Ukrainian Antonov aircraft manufacturers and China Aerospace Industry Corporation have signed an agreement that will facilitate the production of the world’s largest aircraft, the AN-225 Mriya ( ‘Dream’), in China.
Negotiations between the two companies has been held since May 2016 and the agreement was signed on August 30 in Beijing.
“On August 30, [Company] and the Antonov Aerospace Industry Corporation of China (AICC) signed a cooperation agreement on the AN-225 project,” Antonov press service said in a statement, as quoted by news agency UNIAN.
The company added that the cooperation between the two companies includes the development plan AN-225 aircraft both in Ukraine and the handover to China in the first phase of the project, as well as the creation of the best production lines under Ukrainian license in China in the second stage.
Representatives of the company Antonov told UNIAN that each stage of the project will be carried out under a separate contract.
The two companies did not disclose further details about the agreement and did not mention deadlines planned project or number of aircraft AN-225 Akak built in China.
Earlier, the Chinese channel CCTV said on its Facebook page that the Antonov Company sells all manufacturing rights and document technology for super-heavy air cargo AN-225 Mriya to Chinese companies Aerospace. Added first AN-225 can be produced in China in early 2019.
Antonov’s press service denied the reports and stated as things that are not true.
In May, the deputy head of the Antonov said that Ukraine had been considering launching production manufacturing along with China and is planning to invite Chinese investors to the project.
On Wednesday, Antonov refused to comment on the deal and said that it will publish additional information about the negotiations with the Chinese company after the delegation returned from Beijing.
AN-225 is still the largest aircraft in the world, with a takeoff mass of 640 tons and 250 tons workload. Soviet aircraft was developed in the 1980s and was originally designed as a carrier for the Soviet space shuttle Buran (Snowstorm).
The only existing AN-225 aircraft took its first flight in 1988 and is now operated by Antonov Airlines, which is part of the company Antonov.
