Hyderabad: The world’s largest aircraft, the Antonov AN-225 Mriya made its first ever India landing at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at 11.30 pm on Thursday. The plane will now go to Perth via Jakarta at around midnight on Friday.
Unfortunately, the giant was not made available for public viewing, prompting Ukraine Ambassador Dr Igor Polikha to say that Hyderabadis had missed a rare opportunity. He said arrangements had been made in Perth for over 50,000 people to view the aircraft.
The world’s largest aircraft, the AN-225 Mriya, is seen parked on the tarmac at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. The plane arrived in the city at 11.30pm on Thursday. (Photo: DC)
He was speaking at a joint media conference organised by Reliance Defence, in coordination with GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited and Antonov of Ukraine. Reliance and Antonov also announced a plan to build aircraft in India — specifically to suit military and commercial requirements.
President, Reliance Defence aerospace business, Air Marshal M. Matheswaran (retd) said that according to a market survey from five years ago, there was a potential to sell about 200 passenger aircraft in India. He said the company was positive towards coming to Hyderabad as the city was developing as a hub of aerospace, aviation and its allied industry.
“There is a need for 60-90 seater passenger aircraft with the increase in air traffic potential in tier-II and tier-III cities. The intention of the Reliance Defence is to utilise the Make in India wave and bring into the country the best passenger and defence version aircraft at competitive prices.”
The Reliance Group will also build transport aircraft for military and civil use in India in association with the Ukraine-based Antonov.
