As far as cargo aircraft go, this is a big one, right at the top of the freight carrier heap, behind only the Boeing 747-8, with its higher maximum takeoff weight.
An Antonov-124-100 Ruslan aircraft arrived Thursday at Harrisburg International Airport, as part of a private charter flight.
“Companies hire it to carry a specific payload in and out of the region, that’s manufactured here, to destinations all over the world,” said HIA spokesperson Scott Miller.
“Where this one’s going, I don’t know, I don’t know what’s on it, but our job is to be ready to handle anybody, any aircraft that needs help, and that’s what it’s doing here with the airport and our tenants.”
The An-124 is the word’ second heaviest gross weight production cargo aircraft and heaviest operating cargo-only aircraft (886,000 pounds maximum takeoff weight), behind the Boeing 747-8 (at 975,000 pounds).
Ukrainian manufacturer, Antonov Design Bureau, also runs its own freight carrier, Antonov Airlines, and has renamed much of its fleet after Ukrainian cities that were casualties of the Russian invasion.
The campaign goes by the motto, “Be Brave Like Ukraine.”
This aircraft, AN-124-100, UR82029, has “Be Brave Like Bucha,” inscribed on both sides of the aircraft, near the front.
The former world’s largest aircraft, the An-225 Mriya, was destroyed in Hostomel, Ukraine during the initial Russian attacks.
“The runway we have, the airport system we have (at HIA), we can handle any airplane flying today. This is now the largest airplane flying in the world, and we see it from time to time, and they’re private charters,” Miller said.
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