2022/2023 Gostomel, Leipzig and elsewhere in the world. Antonov Airlines after the Russian invasion...

[Stratofreighter]

https://d3lcr32v2pp4l1.cloudfront.net/P ... 460524.jpg

Antonov Airlines’ heavy An-22 turboprop sustained substantial damage at Gostomel

https://www.flightglobal.com/air-transp ... 50.article

An-22 among several Antonov aircraft damaged during Gostomel combat

5 April 2022

Ukrainian airframer Antonov has disclosed that several aircraft types,
including an An-22 outsize freighter,
were damaged during the firefight with Russian forces at Gostomel airport.

The large four-engined An-22 had been – along with the six-engined An-225 –
a highly-recognisable aircraft within the Ukrainian cargo fleet.

Combat operations at Gostomel resulted in the An-225 being destroyed,
along with An-74 and An-26 aircraft.

Gostomel’s control tower and other buildings were wrecked.

The An-22 suffered damage,
as did a four-engined An-12 freighter,
an An-124-150 heavy transport,
and other aircraft including an An-28 and An-132.

Ukrainian defence organisation Ukroboronprom
has removed Antonov general director Sergei Bychkov from his post,
pending investigation into information carried by the local media –
although it has not clarified which particular details have led to his dismissal.

Acting general director Evgen Gavrilov has been put in charge of the company.

He has told colleagues that the Russian military action “struck at the heart”
of the country’s aviation industry,
destroying the An-225 which he describes as “the world’s most famous” aircraft.

Gavrilov hints at an eventual effort to rebuild the An-225, but says:
“The main tasks are to preserve the technical and scientific potential of Antonov and quickly resume serial production.”

Before his departure Bychkov also appeared to initiate an attempt to obtain international funding to recreate the An-225,
through an appeal on the airframer’s official social media channel,
although its authenticity has not been independently verified.

https://www.flightglobal.com/air-transp ... 50.article


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuQGvi_R8zg


https://scramble.nl/community/messagebo ... 6#p1023836

UR-82009 damaged
UR-74010 completely burned
UR-13395 completely burned
UR-09307 damaged
UR-EXK damaged

https://scramble.nl/community/messagebo ... 6#p1023836

[Stratofreighter]

https://simpleflying.com/antonov-conduc ... 225-mriya/


...and this CNN-feature is certainly worth a read!

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/ ... index.html

Updated 18th April 2022

Andrii Sovenko, a Kyiv-based engineer and aviation expert who has worked for the Antonov Company since 1987
and has flown on the AN-225 as part of its technical crew,
has compiled a detailed list of the damage,
by looking at a large number of videos and pictures of the wreckage
(Antonov personnel are not yet allowed back at Hostomel due to safety concerns).

He confirms that the center section of the fuselage and the nose of the plane -- including the cockpit and the crew rest compartments --
are destroyed,
but it's the plane's onboard systems and equipment that received the most critical damage.

"Restoring them will be the hardest," he says.
"This is due to the fact that most of the various electrical systems, pumps and filters used on the AN-225 are all from the 1980s.

"They are simply no longer being made, so it's unlikely that they can be restored exactly in the way they were," he says.

...and
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/ ... index.html
contains lots more of Sovenko's insights...
Certainly worth a click

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https://defence-blog.com/australia-acce ... r-ukraine/

https://australianaviation.com.au/2022/ ... o-ukraine/

https://www.armyrecognition.com/defense ... raine.html

According to information released by the Australian Department of Defense on May 6, 2022, using AN-124 cargo aircraft,
a new flight departed from the military base Amberley on May 5, 2022, to Europe
with M777 155mm towed howitzers and Australian-built Bushmaster 4x4 Protected Mobility Vehicles for Ukraine.

This latest airlift follows the Australian Government announcements on the gifting of 20 Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles,
including 14 with Protected Weapon Systems and two ambulance variants,
and six M777 howitzers with ammunition to aid the Government of Ukraine’s response to Russia’s unrelenting and illegal aggression.

https://news.defence.gov.au/internation ... er-ukraine









https://images.defence.gov.au/assets/S20221411

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....it is getting more and more official...

https://airwaysmag.com/antonov-airlines-move-germany/

https://www.aircargonews.net/airlines/a ... o-leipzig/

Antonov Airlines aims to transfer operations base to Leipzig
12 / 05 / 2022

Antonov Airlines is aiming to transfer its operations base to Leipzig, Germany,
following the damage and destruction of some of its aircraft and its home base in Kyiv.

In a presentation provided to the Worldwide Project Consortium (WWPC),
which is holding its 20th annual membership conference this week in Vienna,
Antonov confirmed the scale of damage following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The airline’s home base at Kyiv-Antonov airport in Hostomel has been destroyed,
as has the AN-225, an AN-74 and an AN-26-100 aircraft.

One AN-124 and one AN-22A are damaged at the airport, with their condition under evaluation.

The Antonov team has been able to relocate to Leipzig
from where the company plans to continue the operation of its remaining five AN-124-100 aircraft.

To do this, the airline said it needs to transfer a full-scale base to the airport;
deliver the spare engines, parts and other special equipment from Ukraine;
source Western versions of the units where possible;
and transfer technical specialists, flight personnel and key office employees to Leipzig.

The airline said that in recent weeks it has been carrying out
flights to Europe, North America, Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia.

The carrier has been carrying out flights worldwide,
the airline is prioritising flights for the Ukrainian government,
NATA/EU under the SALIS programme
and humanitarian missions but there is the possibility of handling commercial flights.

Antonov estimates that in the next 12 months it will conduct 385 flights, with 1,270 landings.

[Stratofreighter]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgOJNsUoxoQ

https://simpleflying.com/ukraine-remove ... ed-an-225/

Footage has emerged of the destroyed Antonov An-225 being dismantled and removed from Hostomel Airport in Kyiv, Ukraine. The giant aircraft, named Mriya, was severely damaged in late February when the invasion began, in the so-called Battle of Antonov Airport.

When the attack first happened, there were hopes that Mriya could be rebuilt, but subsequent images and videos released of the aircraft showed that the damage was most likely too severe for this to be possible. The extent of the damage visible in this latest video on Twitter appears to dash any remaining hope of Mriya ever being reconstructed.

https://twitter.com/Archer83Able/status ... 9373459470

[Stratofreighter]

https://www.businessinsider.com/richard ... &r=US&IR=T

Billionaire Richard Branson visited a Kyiv airfield to discuss rebuilding the world's largest cargo plane, which was destroyed by a Russian attack

29 jun 2022

Richard Branson is in talks to help build a new version of the world's largest plane, the Antonov An-225 Mriya.

That's according to local politicians, who said Branson offered his help on a visit to Kyiv Wednesday.

Billionaire businessman Richard Branson visited Antonov Airport,
site of one of the fiercest battles of the Russian invasion of Ukraine,
to discuss repairing the damaged airstrip
and to see the wreckage of the world's largest cargo plane,
local authorities said Wednesday.

Davyd Arakhamia, a deputy for Ukraine's Servant of the People party, posted images of Branson —
who founded companies including Virgin Galactic — visiting the airfield,
which is located in Hostomel, near Kyiv, on his Telegram channel.

In the accompanying post,
Arakhamia said that the Virgin founder had "expressed his readiness to help"
in both repairing the airfield and building a new version of the Antonov An-225 Mriya,
the world's largest cargo plane —
which was destroyed during fierce fighting in February.

"We are already working on a project to build a new aircraft," he said,
adding that Branson was "pleasantly shocked by our optimism."

Alexander Khrebet, a reporter for Ukrainian publication ZN, also shared pictures of Branson's visit to Twitter.

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-econom ... giant.html



https://t.me/David_Arakhamia/96

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-econom ... giant.html

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...the Ukrainian First Lady, Olena Zelenska, photographed by ANNIE LEIBOVITZ for Vogue magazine.
very near the remnants of the Antonov An-225s' nose:
https://twitter.com/jaanikamerilo/statu ... 81/photo/1

The Vogue feature itself:
https://www.vogue.com/article/portrait- ... a-zelenska

[Stratofreighter]

http://avherald.com/h?article=4fcbc5c9&opt=0

Incident: Antonov A124 at Rzeszow on Aug 4th 2022, wheel fractured and dislocated on departure
By Simon Hradecky, created Wednesday, Aug 10th 2022 16:44Z, last updated Wednesday, Aug 10th 2022 16:44Z

http://avherald.com/h?article=4fcbc5c9&opt=0

An Antonov Airlines Antonov AN-124, registration UR-82027 performing flight ADB-347F from Rzeszow (Poland) to Leipzig (Germany), was climbing out of Rzeszow's runway 09 when the crew could not retract the landing gear and stopped the climb at FL120.

[Stratofreighter]

https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/3259 ... gn-started

on 8th November 2022

Antonov confirms design work on second An-225 Mriya already begun

The Ukrainian aircraft manufacturer Antonov Company confirmed
that the design work to complete the second An-225 Mriya, the world’s largest aircraft, had already begun.

“Currently, design works in this direction have begun,” the company said in a Facebook post.

“According to available expert estimates, currently there are about 30% of components that can be used for the second model of the aircraft.

The cost of building the aircraft is estimated at least 500 million euros.
However, it is too early to talk about the specific amount.”

The statement follows information revealed by Antonov General Director Eugene Gavrilov in the German newspaper Bild.

During an interview at the company’s new base in Leipzig, Germany,
Gavrilov said that the “work on the new aircraft is underway at a secret location,”
and that some components salvaged from the wreckage of the original aircraft would be used.

A second unfinished airframe of the An-225, initially intended for ground testing, was stored at Hostomel.
Its' current location is unconfirmed.

https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/3259 ... gn-started

https://simpleflying.com/new-antonov-an ... 0-million/

https://twitter.com/AntonovCompany/stat ... 7671478272
/
https://twitter.com/AntonovCompany/stat ... 0502633474

After inspecting what is left of the Antonov An-225,
experts have estimated that €500 million ($500 million) will be needed to reconstruct the mega aircraft.

Nonetheless, the Ukrainian manufacturer has also stated it is too soon to talk about a precise amount of money.
Therefore, the exact sum will be made public at a second stage.

https://www.airdatanews.com/antonov-rev ... -location/

Ukrainian aircraft maker Antonov revealed on Monday that it is building a new An-225 Mriya at a secret location.

According to Yevhen Havrylov, the company’s general director,
the assembly of the six-engine aircraft has already reached 30% of the planned work.

The executive revealed that the new An-225 will be assembled with parts from a second, unfinished airframe,
as well as parts from the first plane and other new components.

“Work on the new aircraft continues at a secret facility.
The second AN-225, which was never completed,
will be supplemented with parts from the bombed-out aircraft in addition to new parts,”
Havrylov told the German newspaper Bild.

https://www.airdatanews.com/antonov-rev ... -location/