Leviathan of skies touches down

HUNDREDS of people gathered at Hosea Kutako International Airport outside Windhoek on Wednesday night to catch a glimpse of the world’s biggest plane.

The Antonov 225 is the only plane of its kind and was originally built to transport the former Soviet Union’s Buran space shuttle. It made its first international debut at the Paris Air Show in 1989.When the Soviet space programme was discontinued, the giant plane was without a mission and was parked in a hangar near Kiev.The Antonov Group acquired the An-225, revived the giant and since 2001 the plane has been used all over the world to transport unusually large and heavy cargo.The plane has a wingspan of 88,4 metres from tip to tip and can easily fit the body of a Boeing 747 into its cargo hold, which can carry a weight of over 250 000 tons.The plane has 32 wheels and it needs seven crew members to keep it in the air.Its official name is the Antonov 225 Mriya, which means “dream” in Ukrainian.The plane landed at Hosea Kutako with 112 000 tons of freight which consisted of ship reels, wire and other nautical equipment.The equipment was transported by Wesbank Transport trucks to Walvis Bay where the equally enormous Greater Plutonio floating production storage offloading (FPSO) vessel will collect the cargo around January 26.FPSO vessels are employed in offshore oil and gas explorations.Woker Freight Services, a subsidiary of the Manica Group Namibia, acted as agents for the charter and oversaw the customs documentation and smooth transhipment of the cargo overland to Walvis Bay, where Rennies Consolidated, another subsidiary of the Manica Group, will take over the cargo and deliver it onto the Greater Plutonio.It made its first international debut at the Paris Air Show in 1989.When the Soviet space programme was discontinued, the giant plane was without a mission and was parked in a hangar near Kiev.The Antonov Group acquired the An-225, revived the giant and since 2001 the plane has been used all over the world to transport unusually large and heavy cargo.The plane has a wingspan of 88,4 metres from tip to tip and can easily fit the body of a Boeing 747 into its cargo hold, which can carry a weight of over 250 000 tons.The plane has 32 wheels and it needs seven crew members to keep it in the air.Its official name is the Antonov 225 Mriya, which means “dream” in Ukrainian.The plane landed at Hosea Kutako with 112 000 tons of freight which consisted of ship reels, wire and other nautical equipment.The equipment was transported by Wesbank Transport trucks to Walvis Bay where the equally enormous Greater Plutonio floating production storage offloading (FPSO) vessel will collect the cargo around January 26.FPSO vessels are employed in offshore oil and gas explorations.Woker Freight Services, a subsidiary of the Manica Group Namibia, acted as agents for the charter and oversaw the customs documentation and smooth transhipment of the cargo overland to Walvis Bay, where Rennies Consolidated, another subsidiary of the Manica Group, will take over the cargo and deliver it onto the Greater Plutonio.