Antonov An-225 Mriya lands in Hyderabad

The world's biggest cargo aircraft Antonov An-225 Mriya made its first landing in India  at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here en route to Perth, Australia.
Antonov is a world leader in transport aircraft design and manufacture, exemplified by An-225.India has a requirement of over 200 medium lift turbofan aircraft, valued at Rs 35,000 crore, which is the backbone of all tactical Logistic Transport Support Role as well as Route Transport Roles (RTR) of the Air Force, Army and Para military forces, Matheswaran claimed. Antonov with Reliance Group had submitted a joint proposal to make 'passenger regional aircraft' that would be used to connect tier-three and tier-two cities in India.
Antonov An-225 has twice the wing area of a Boeing 747. Normally, only the nose gear of an aircraft is steerable. On the An-225 there are 20 steerable wheels, four in the nose gear and 16 at the rear of the 28-wheel main gear. This makes it extremely manoeuvrable.
The aircraft has a spacious cargo compartment with length of 43.32 m, width of 6.4 m and height of 4.4 m.