War impacts all aspects of a nation. Ukraine’s airlines have long since stopped flying commercial services, making their aircraft available instead for humanitarian flights and wet lease operations for other carriers. Meanwhile, the country’s most well-known cargo carrier, Antonov Airlines, continues to operate despite the significant hardships following Russia’s invasion. On Monday, the airfreight service provider announced it had transported vital powerplant components from Slovenia to Nigeria with a series of three An-124-100 flights.
The project had been a year in the making, far preceding the current war in Ukraine. Antonov Airlines collaborated with another air charter solutions specialist, Chapman Freeborn Germany, in order to transport the cargo, including generator, turbine, and additional equipment, from Ljubljana, Slovenia, to Kano, Nigeria.
Eugene Kiva, Commercial Executive, Antonov Airlines, commented on the successfully completed mission,
“The entire Antonov team, from commercial to operational, route planning, and load planning, worked closely with our client and agents to ensure the safe delivery of this important cargo, which will support energy needs in Nigeria. Our professional flight crew and technical staff ensured the flights went smoothly and the cargo arrived safely and on time ready to serve its humanitarian needs.”
Carrying on the cargo mission from Germany
Since the beginning of March, there has been no flight data available for Antonov’s five active An-124 aircraft from radar tracking sites. Their larger sibling, the An-225 Mriya, was one of the early victims of a Russian air assault on the Gostomel airfield, where the world’s largest aircraft was parked. Eugene Gavrylov, Acting Director-General of Antonov, stated,
“We continue to operate despite the challenges we have faced after the Russian invasion and the damage they caused to our Gostomel home base and some of our aircraft. The services responsible for planning the transportation and maintenance of aircraft have been temporarily relocated to Leipzig, Germany. This allows us to ensure the further safe operation of Antonov fleet aircraft.”
The Antonov An-124
Antonov Airlines owns a fleet of seven An-124 Ruslan aircraft, although two of these are currently inactive. They have reached an average age of 32.4 years but are still going strong, as was the Mriya prior to its destruction, at 34 years old.
There are currently only 18 active An-124 aircraft. The five previously mentioned belong to Antonov and one to Abu Dhabi-based cargo specialist Maximus Air. The remainder are flying for the Russian military. All of the 11 operated by Russian airfreight company Volga-Dnepr are listed as inactive – with at least one having been impounded as a result of sanctions.
The An-124 is designed for long-range delivery and airdropping of heavy and large size cargo, including machines, equipment, and troops. It took its maiden flight in December 1982 and was first shown off at the Paris Air Show in 1985 but did not receive civil certification until 1992. In total, 59 units have been built.
Source: simpleflying.com