Dubai welcomes world's largest aircraft

Dubai: The Dubai World Central (DWC), Dubai’s second airport and the 20th busiest in the world for international air freight, welcomed the world’s largest and most powerful aircraft, the Antonov 225.

The aircraft, named Mriya — which means Dream in Ukrainian — made stops in Australia, Turkey and Malaysia before touching down in Dubai on Tuesday at 2pm.

The plane is 84m-long and weighs 175 tonnes without cargo or fuel. When fully loaded and crewed, it can hold up to 600 tonnes.

The aircraft is over seven metres longer than a Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental and 11 metres longer than the Airbus A380-800.

The Antonov An-225 Mriya transported a power generator from the Czech Republic for a Western Australia state mine site, local media reported.

The aircraft departed Dubai on Wednesday morning for Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport in Italy.