Ukraine will shortly provide Libya with another of the world's largest cargo planes in the framework of a bilateral trade deal, Ukranian aircraft manufacturer Antonov announced Wednesday.
The plane, an Antonov AN-124-100 capable of carrying around 130 tons of freight, is the second of its kind to be sold to Libya by the company since August last year, an Antonov spokesman said, cited by AFP.
After Pan Am Flight 103 exploded in mid-air over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988, killing all 259 passengers on board and 11 people on the ground, the United Nations imposed sanctions on Tripoli which was suspected of being behind the attack. While those sanctions have since been suspended following Libya's agreement to turn over two suspects in the attack, they have yet to be fully lifted by the international community.
The An 124 is one of the largest and rarest of airplanes flying today. The giant airplane was designed in the former USSR as a heavy strategic airlifter. Since the fall of the USSR, a handful of these aircraft have been produced as commercial long-range freighters.
The An 124 is used for its unique ability to carry very large and very heavy payloads. The Antonovs have been used to carry a Siemens power generator, weighing 135.2 tons from Germany to India, an entire locomotive, weighing 109 tons from Canada to Ireland, space launcher components, complete helicopters, heavy construction equipment, and complete fleets of cars.
Prior to being sold to Libya, the An 124 first visited the country in the year 2000, when three An-124-100s airlifted the entire Paris-Dakar rally from Niamey, Niger to Sebha, Libya in order to avoid passing though dangerous areas. This mission airlifted cars, trucks and outfit of the teams participating in Paris-Dakar-Cairo rally and also TV crews, their equipment,facilities and complete helicopters. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
