From China with love: Ukrainian plane flies med supplies to Warsaw

Largest transport aircraft in the world will bring cargo to Poland with the necessary means to fight the coronavirus. The plane will include 7 million masks and several hundred thousand protective suits. The giant aircraft is expected to land at Warsaw’s Chopin airport at around 9:30 (CET) on April 14.

The Antonov An-225 Mriya is an 84-meter-long strategic airlift cargo aircraft that was designed by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Ukrainian SSR within the Soviet Union during the 1980s. It is powered by six turbofan engines and is the heaviest aircraft ever built. It also has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service. It is in commercial operation with Antonov Airlines carrying oversized payloads. It is so large that it is able to carry a space shuttle on its back and nearly 100 passenger cars in the hold.

The An-225 has lately been involved in transporting medical supplies from China to the European Union to fight the coronavirus, according to the Ukroboronprom press service.

Transport, requested by the Polish Prime Minister’s Office, was organized by KGHM, a state-run copper mining giant, and Lotos, a state-owned oil company. The total value of medical materials purchased with taxpayer’s money is about USD 15 million. Marcin Chludziński, head of KGHM, tweeted on April 13 that the plane had already left China for Poland.

(PAP1, PAP2)