What was the name of the world's largest cargo aircraft, destroyed in 2022?

The world’s largest cargo aircraft destroyed in 2022 was the Antonov An-225 Mriya.

Designed by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Soviet Union, the An-225 was developed as an enlarged derivative of the An-124 to carry the Buran space shuttle and rocket components. Its Ukrainian name, Mriya, means “dream.” Only one aircraft was completed, making it uniquely recognizable in global aviation.

The giant freighter had a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes and a wingspan of 88.4 metres. Antonov Airlines later operated it commercially for exceptional loads, including generators, locomotives, wind-turbine components, and other cargo too large for conventional freighters. It held records for aircraft weight, wingspan among operational aircraft, and transported payloads.

The An-225 was based at Antonov Airport in Hostomel, near Kyiv. It was destroyed in its hangar during the Battle of Antonov Airport after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. The Airbus Beluga and Boeing 747 Dreamlifter are also specialized cargo aircraft, but neither matched the An-225’s overall size and lifting capability.