On 10 May, the largest cargo plane in the world will begin a 9 day journey from Ukraine to Australia. The Antonov An-225 Mriya will be bringing a large generator to Perth, arriving on 15 May. We have included the tentative schedule for the An-225 flights in May below. We also take a look inside the the An-225 to see how it carries up to 250 tonnes using its six engines.

Tentative Schedule to Perth

All scheduled times UTC.

Note that the schedule is tentative and subject to change. We will update this post with any new information as it becomes available.

Arrival in Perth

After much anticipation, the giant of the skies has touched down in Perth. Welcome to Australia #AN225 Mriya! pic.twitter.com/Mm6sKRQgBz

— Perth Airport (@PerthAirport) May 15, 2016

Touring the An-225

The An-225 is powered by six D-18 engines, also used on the An-124. The An-225 rolls on a total of 32 wheels. The main gear includes 14 wheels on each side, while the front gear is 2×2. The cargo area measures 43 meters long by 6.4 meters wide by 4.4 meters tall, with 1300 cubic meters of usable cargo area. Cargo is loaded via the massive front door, which hinges open so that a ramp may extend out.

The tail of the An-225 features a large dual vertical stabilizer design. And unlike many other large cargo aircraft, the An-225 lacks a rear cargo door.

The dual vertical stabilizer design allowed it carry large cargo externally as well, such as the Soviet Buran shuttle.

The flight deck of the An-225 carries two pilots and additional crew members, including a navigator. Access to the flight deck is via a ladder from the main cargo area.

Tracking the An-225

Because the An-225 lacks an ADS-B transponder, we track it using MLAT. This means that the aircraft must remain covered by multiple receivers in order for us to track it. During its journey to Perth, it may pass through areas without coverage more than once. Coverage of the An-225 at low altitudes may also be intermittent due to the limitations of MLAT tracking. We are working to add additional receivers in multiple areas, including Western Australia, in order to better track the An-225 and other MLAT-only aircraft.

There are multiple ways to track the An-225 on Flightradar24.

• ✈️  Registration: UR-82060
• ✈️ Type: A225
• ✈️ Callsign: ADB{XXXX}, where {XXXX} is the flight number listed in the schedule above.

See all the An-225 photos from the JetPhotos catalog.

Featured imaged by Lutz Herzog