Manufacturer · Ukraine · Founded 1946
Antonov: The Giant-Plane Makers
Some aircraft companies are known for speed, some for selling thousands of airliners. Antonov is known for the extremes. It built one of the slowest, toughest workhorses ever made, a biplane designed in the 1940s that was still being built in the 1990s. And it built the biggest aircraft ever to fly, a six-engined giant with a wingspan of 88 metres, named Mriya: Ukrainian for “dream”.
A secret bureau in Siberia
The company began in 1946 as a top-secret Soviet design bureau called OKB-153, set up at an aircraft factory in Novosibirsk and led by the engineer Oleg Antonov. In 1952 it moved to Kyiv, then part of the Soviet Union and today the capital of Ukraine. Kyiv has been Antonov’s home ever since.
Its first big hit was a plane that looked old-fashioned on the day it first flew. The An-2, which flew on 31 August 1947, was a single-engined biplane, with two sets of wings stacked one above the other. The double wing gave huge lift at low speed, so the An-2 could take off and land on rough grass, snow and short farm strips. It sprayed crops, dropped parachutists, carried mail and linked villages that never saw a runway. More than 18,000 were built in the Soviet Union, Poland and China, and some still fly today.
The arc
Antonov from Novosibirsk to Kyiv
- 1946The bet
OKB-153 is founded
Oleg Antonov’s design bureau starts work in Novosibirsk.
- 1947Proof
The An-2 flies
A rugged biplane that will be built more than 18,000 times.
- 1952Reset
Move to Kyiv
The bureau relocates to Kyiv, its home ever since.
- 1982Proof
An-124 Ruslan
Production begins of what was then the world’s largest production cargo plane.
- 1988Proof
An-225 Mriya
The largest aircraft ever flown makes its first flight on 21 December.
- 2022Break
Mriya destroyed
The only completed An-225 is destroyed in its hangar at Hostomel on 27 February.
The cargo giants
Antonov’s real speciality became huge transport aircraft. The An-124 Ruslan, built from 1982, was for years the largest production cargo plane in the world. Its whole nose swings upward and its rear opens too, so trucks can drive straight through. Its landing gear can “kneel”, lowering the plane so loads roll in at ground level. Around 55 were built, and they became the go-to aircraft for cargo too big for anything else: power-station turbines, locomotives, satellites, even other aircraft.
Mriya: the biggest plane ever flown
In the 1980s the Soviet Union needed to move its Buran space shuttle and the parts of its giant Energia rocket around the country. Antonov’s answer was to stretch the An-124 into something bigger than anything before it. The An-225 Mriya had six engines, 32 wheels and a twin tail, designed so a shuttle could ride on its back without blocking the airflow over a single fin. It first flew on 21 December 1988.
The Buran programme ended soon after, and only one An-225 was ever completed. But Mriya found a second life as a commercial freighter, carrying loads nobody else could, from generators to relief supplies. Wherever it landed, crowds came to watch. It was destroyed in its hangar at Hostomel Airport, near Kyiv, on 27 February 2022.
The real numbers
Antonov in figures
18,000+
An-2s built
1947–1992, in three countries
~55
An-124s built
1982–2004
6
Engines on Mriya
The largest aircraft ever flown
1
An-225 completed
A second airframe was never finished
Why it matters
Antonov never sold airliners in the numbers of Boeing or Airbus. Its legacy is different: it proved how far you can push the size of an aircraft, and it built planes that could go where nothing else could, whether that was a grass strip in a Siberian village or a factory needing a 100-tonne turbine delivered. For a related story of extreme flying, see how giant cargo jets land on Antarctic ice.
Iconic aircraft
1947
Antonov An-2
A single-engined biplane workhorse; over 18,000 built in Ukraine, Poland and China.
1959
Antonov An-24
A twin-turboprop regional airliner flown across the Soviet Union and beyond.
1982
Antonov An-124 Ruslan
A giant cargo plane with a nose that lifts up for loading; around 55 built.
1988
Antonov An-225 Mriya
Six engines, the largest aircraft ever flown. Only one was completed.
Sources & Further Reading
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened to the An-225 Mriya?
The only completed An-225 was destroyed in its hangar at Hostomel Airport, near Kyiv, on 27 February 2022. A second airframe had been partly built decades earlier but was never finished.
Why was the An-225 built?
It was developed in the 1980s as an enlarged An-124 to carry the Soviet Buran space shuttle and parts of its rocket on its back. After that programme ended, it found a second career carrying outsized cargo too big for any other plane.
How many An-2s were built?
More than 18,000 between 1947 and 1992: about 5,000 in the Soviet Union, about 12,000 in Poland and about 1,000 in China. That makes it one of the most-produced aircraft types in history.
Is Antonov Russian or Ukrainian?
Antonov began in Novosibirsk in 1946 as a Soviet design bureau and moved to Kyiv in 1952. Since the end of the Soviet Union it has been a Ukrainian company.
Is the An-124 still flying?
Yes. A number of An-124s still fly heavy and outsized cargo, such as industrial machinery, aircraft engines and relief supplies. Around 55 were built between 1982 and 2004.