AN-124 Ruslan airplane to undergo certification test in Leipzig
12 July 2025 22:12
On Friday, July 11, Antonov Airlines’ AN-124-100 Ruslan UR-82073 flew from Kyiv to Leipzig, where the company’s fleet is currently based.
“The AN-124-100 UR-82073 is already in Leipzig. Although there is still a thorny path of certification tests ahead, there is hope to see it in the skies of Ukraine. With new engines, new avionics, with expanded conditions of use!” wrote Fedir Hryshchuk, an airworthiness inspector at the State Aviation Service, on Facebook, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
As reported, the skies over Ukraine have been closed to civilian aircraft since the start of full-scale Russian aggression on February 24, 2022. During this time, only a few civilian planes stuck at Ukrainian airports have been able to be flown out of the country from Boryspil and Lviv airports.
Antonov Airlines was founded in 1989. According to its website, the airline’s fleet consists of one An-225 Mriya, seven An-124-100 Ruslan, one An-22 Antey, one An-26, and one An-74T. According to Ukroboronprom, as a result of Russia’s hostile actions at the beginning of the invasion, the Antonov base in Gostomel was destroyed, the base in Sviatoshyn was damaged, and An-26, An-74, and An-225 Mriya aircraft were destroyed. Another An-124 was also damaged, while five other An-124s were withdrawn from Ukraine.
