Ukraine President Zelenskyy promises to rebuild world’s biggest plane Antonov An-225

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed his desire to build a second Antonov An-225, although the project seems to be a distant endeavour because of the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war.

Antonov An-225

Antonov An-225 'Mriya', also famous as the world's biggest plane even after its destruction amidst the Ukraine-Russia war, isn't completely out of the discussions yet. As per a report by an aviation news website Airlive, during a meeting with Ukrainian students, the country's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his interest of building another Mriya. The new aircraft will be built to commemorate the unfortunate loss of lives during the Ukraine-Russia war and particularly during the defending Mariupol. It is to be noted that the Antonov An-225 was destroyed in Kyiv in late February during a Russian attack.

Antonov An225: History

When the world's biggest plane was made, it was not the only unit planned, there was a second Antonov An-225 in the discussions at the time. However, the second unit was never completed because of a lack of finance and interest, leading to the termination of the idea finally in 1994. Because of certain reasons, the idea of completing the project again made the discussions but again was held back on the table because of the required finances.

World's Biggest Plane: Updates

The work on the second unit of the Antonov An-225 has been 70 per cent done with a few aircraft components waiting to be fitted on the plane. As per the reports, to rebuild the aircraft, funds as much as $800 million are in order. To give you a better idea, most aircraft like an Airbus A380 cost much less than the sum needed to build the world's largest plane.

As per the report, to gather the funds necessary to bring another Antonov An-225 to life, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy approached the President of Turkey, but the effort was not fruitful.

Considering the ongoing war gathering the funds necessary to build the aircraft still seems to be a distant endeavour. But President Zelenskyy has taken things beyond the finances by dedicating the plane's construction to the Ukrainian forces, whom he referred to as "heroic people", based on Airlive's report.