News
World’s largest plane touches down in Edmonton
June 27, 2014, Edmonton - It can carry 45 African elephants. Or seven humpback whales. Or more than the equivalent of three fully-loaded 737s. The Antonov An-225 is the longest, heaviest airplane in the world – and is the only one of its kind.
June 27, 2014 By Carey Fredericks
Built in Ukraine in the 1980s, the An-225 was originally designed to
carry the Soviet Union’s space shuttle, but now charters oversized cargo
across the globe.
On Friday morning the plane landed at the Edmonton International Airport, to deliver a new waste heat boiler for Agrium’s nitrogen fertilizer operation near Redwater, AB.
The
boiler was made in Berlin, Germany. It was then transported by barge,
truck and then flown by the An-225 across the Atlantic to Edmonton.
Logistics company DB Schenker of Canada organized the international
move.
This is not the first time the An-225 has touched down
in Edmonton. In March of 2010, the plane was chartered by the U.S.
military to bring supplies from Edmonton-based Canadian Helicopters to
Afghanistan. It picked up 50 tonnes of supplies, including three
helicopters. In November of 2007, the plane delivered three armoured
vehicles for military training.
