Biggest Plane in the World Successfully Lands in Croatia
- by croatiaweek
- in Latest
The biggest aircraft in the world has landed for the first time in Croatia on Friday evening. Antonov 225 landed at Zagreb International Airport at 17:45 yesterday to pick up and deliver a transformer that Croatian company Končar produced for a buyer in the Philippines.
Hundreds of avid plane spotters made their way to the lookout balcony at Zagreb’s Pleso Airport to take photos and get a view of the giant aircraft landing. The plane’s pilot Dmitro Antonov says he does not have any nerves flying the aircraft and that Zagreb’s runway was one of the best he has used. The plane will leave Zagreb on Sunday.
The Antonov 225 cargo aircraft is powered by six turbofan engines and is the largest airplane in the world. It is also the heaviest aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes and the biggest heavier-than-air aircraft in terms of length and wingspan in operational service. Made in 1988, the monster aircraft holds the absolute world records for an airlifted single item payload of 189,980 kilogrammes, and an airlifted total payload of 253,820 kilograms. It has also transported a payload of 247,000 kilograms on a commercial flight.
