BBC News
 The
225 prepares for its test flight take off...
The world's
biggest plane, the Antonov 225, has taken to the skies again,
a decade after being grounded following the collapse of the Soviet
Union.
The giant
Antonov - an updated version of the plane originally designed
to transport the former Soviet Union's Buran space shuttle - completed
a successful 15-minute test flight from the Hostomel airport near
the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.
"The
test was a success. Everything is fine," the head of the
Antonov company, Petro Balabuyev, told journalists.
Mr Balabuyev
said he hoped the Antonov 225 could be flying commercially within
six weeks.
Huge cargo
hold
The six-engined
plane can carry over 250 tonnes of cargo - double that of the
largest plane in current use, another Antonov - and will be aimed
at the market for super-heavy and oversized air cargo.
. ..and
airborne, at last
It has a wingspan
of 88.4 metres (291 feet) and a cargo compartment capable of storing
about 80 cars.
The Antonov
company developed the new plane in conjunction with Ukraine's
Motor-Sych company at a cost estimated at about $20m (£14m).
Only two of
the original Antonov 225s were ever built, and only one ever took
to the air.
The collapse
of the Soviet Union severely damaged airplane building in the
region as the appearance of new national boundaries and laws broke
up what had once been a closely integrated industry.
The Antonov
company is hoping to display the new 225 in June at the prestigious
Le Bourget air show in France.
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