The world's biggest propeller engined plane has landed in the UK for the first time - at Stansted.
Last week the Antonov Airlines AN 22 landed at the Essex airport to pick up a piece of an MRI scanner, weighing nearly 42 tonnes, which was headed for Niigata University near Tokyo.
The turboprop aircraft, which has a 50-tonne payload capacity, is the only one of its kind in operation.
It has recently been chartered to a range of destinations across the world, including Australia, South America and Canada, and the UK is set to welcome it back within the next two weeks.
Graham Pearce, senior vice president of Antonov Airlines Commercial, said: "The AN 22 has been continuously busy over the last month, partly due to the lack of availability within our AN 124 fleet. We are delighted with its performance."
Published Wednesday, June 18, 2003
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