Antonov Airlines (ADB, Gostomel) is planning to relocate its base from Gostomel airport, heavily damaged during the war with Russia, to Leipzig/Halle where it will deploy five An-124s.
According to the carrier's presentation during the annual Worldwide Project Consortium conference in Vienna, reported by industry publication Heavy Lift & Project Forwarding International, Antonov Airlines is evaluating its options for the relocation of its maintenance equipment, spare part inventory (including engines), and staff from Ukraine to Germany. The state-owned airline said it would continue to prioritise humanitarian and military charters on behalf of the Ukrainian government and flights for NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its allies under the SALIS strategic airlift programme, but estimates that it will have enough spare capacity to operate around 385 commercial services over the next 12 months.
The carrier's fleet of An-124s comprises one An-124-100 (and another one in long-term storage), one An-124-100-150, three An-124-100Ms, and one An-124-100M-150. Except for the -100M-150 unit, which was at Gostomel at the time of invasion and was damaged during shelling, the other five aircraft are available to the carrier. Their location is not disclosed, and they are blocked from ADS-B tracking services.
The airline said that besides the world's only active An-225, one An-74 and one An-26-100 were also destroyed during the fighting. One An-22A was also hit, but the extent of the damage incurred has yet to be verified.
Although Gostomel airport is now firmly under Ukrainian control following the collapse and retreat of the Russian offensive, the country's airspace remains closed to all operations, complicating any relocation operations.
Antonov Airlines is one of only two internationally authorised operators of the An-124, alongside UAE-based Maximus Airlines (6M, Abu Dhabi International) with a single unit of the type. Russia's Volga-Dnepr Airlines (VI, Ulyanovsk Vostochny) operates eleven aircraft, but Antonov Design Bureau withdrew its recognition of the aircraft's certificates of airworthiness, accusing the Russian airline of performing unauthorised maintenance.
