Huge Russian jet flies in new engines
A giant Soviet-era jet has made a rare appearance in Auckland to deliver new engines for Air New Zealand’s troubled Dreamliner fleet.
The hulking Antonov An-124 Ruslan touched down at Auckland Airport on Saturday after a flight from Singapore via Darwin.
It carried four engines for Air New Zealand’s fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Two were brand-new lease engines from Rolls-Royce, while the other two underwent maintenance in Singapore, an airline spokeswoman said.
Ongoing issues with the Dreamliners’ engines forced Air New Zealand to cancel dozens of flights late in 2019.
Engine-related disruptions over the previous two years forced the cancellation of more than 200 Air New Zealand flights.
The coronavirus era has precipitated a series of neverbefore-seen visitors at Auckland Airport.
An Air India repatriation flight earlier in June represented the first visit to Auckland by that airline.
The previous month, a French Air Force Airbus A400M fourengine turboprop made its first visit to the airport on a mission to repatriate French Polynesians to Papeete, Tahiti.
The Antonov An-124, belonging to Russian charter company VolgaDnepr Airlines, was still parked up at Auckland Airport yesterday.
Stuff has made inquiries as to whether the crew are isolating but is yet to receive a response.
One of 55 built, the four-engine jet was designed by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union. It has a cruising speed of 865kmh, a range of 3700km at maximum payload and a maximum takeoff weight of 402 tonnes. A distinctive feature of the airlifter is its undercarriage, featuring 24 wheels.
An enlarged version of the An124, the An-225 Mriya, is the heaviest aircraft ever built with the widest wingspan of any plane currently flying. Several years ago, an An-124 was used to deliver the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s new NH-90 helicopters.
Prior to arriving in Auckland the Volga-Dnepr aircraft flew from Marseilles to Singapore via Seoul and Kuala Lumpur.