The Antonov An-225 Mriya (Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-225 Мрія (Dream)

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The Antonov An-225 Mriya (Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-225 Мрія (Dream).

The Antonov An-225, initially developed for the task of transporting the Buran spaceplane, was an enlargement of the successful Antonov An-124. The first and only An-225 was completed in 1988. After successfully fulfilling its Soviet military missions, it was mothballed for eight years. It was then refurbished and re-introduced, and is in commercial operation with Antonov Airlines carrying oversized payloads. The airlifter holds the absolute world records for an airlifted single item payload of 189,980 kilograms (418,834 pounds), and an airlifted total payload of 253,820 kg (559,577 lb).It has also transported a payload of 247,000 kilograms (545,000 pounds) on a commercial flight.