Why world’s biggest plane came to Ghana

• The Antonov An-225 Mriya, a strategic cargo flight, arrived at the KIA for a short stop

• The six-engine plane was on its way to another African country

The Kotoka International Airport, KIA, on Wednesday (July 7) had a huge visitor when the Antonov An-225 Mriya was given clearance to land.

The plane reputed as one of the world’s largest aircrafts did not take too long to be back on the runway and heading further down the continent.

According to details via AviationGhana.com, the aircraft landed successfully in Ghana at around 4:00pm from Leipzig in Germany.

Why Ghana and for what purpose?

GhanaWeb sources at the Ghana Airports Company Limited said the cargo plane had made a technical stop in order to refuel before completing its journey.

It was carrying medical supplies from Germany to be donated to southern African nation of Namibia.

The country has recently seen an uptick in the number of Coronavirus cases and as a former colonial power, Germany sent material support to help in the fight against the virus.

“The world’s largest aircraft, the Antonov-225, with a consignment of medical equipments and materials landed at the Hosea Kutako International Airport this afternoon.

“The consignment will be used to contain the spread of COVID-19,” Namibia’s Airports Company posted on Twitter on July 8. The post was accompanied with photos of the plane offloading its cargo.

About the Antonov-225

The plane is used more often to transport strategic cargo and for all the load it ‘swallows’ it requires at least six crew made up of a pilot, co-pilot, two flight engineers, a navigator and a radio operator.

The six-engine plane which is estimated to cost between US$200 million and US$250 million is one of only two built in the world and undertakes strategic heavy lifting of cargo transport to specific destinations in the world.It was first designed during the 1980s in the Soviet Union and manufactured by the Antonov Design Bureau (ADB) of Ukraine. It has the heaviest fixed-wing for a plane with a maximum take-off weight of 640 tonnes worth of cargo.

While the Airbus A380 Airliner, the An-124 and the Boeing 747 Freighter are relatively huge, the “Antonov An-225 Mriya” is said to be the largest aircraft to ever be built for the aviation industry.

The Antonov An-225 Mriya which carries a NATO code name ‘Cossack’ is currently the only fleet in operation.