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Gostomel Airport and Antonov Airlines: a status update
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Gostomel Airport and Antonov Airlines: a status update

Gerjon
Feb 24
Share this post
Gostomel Airport and Antonov Airlines: a status update
gerjon.substack.com

Over the past day, there have been concerning news reports about suspected attacks and capture of Gostomel Airport in Ukraine. This airport is located some 25 km northwest of central Kyiv, around 90 km south of the former Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and about 80 km from the border with Belarus. It is home to Antonov Airlines, one of the world’s few commercial operators of large Antonov cargo aircraft. Besides humanitarian and industrial users, this airline is of importance to West-European Armed Forces. This blog post will explain why this is the case, and will give an overview of the current status of the Antonov Airlines fleet.

Twitter avatar for @ragipsoyluRagıp Soylu @ragipsoylu
BREAKING — Russian airborne troops have captured the Antonov airport near Kyiv, Ukraine: CNN

February 24th 2022

1,792 Retweets4,620 Likes

 

Antonov Airlines and their relevance to West-European Armed Forces

Antonov is an Aircraft Design Bureau with its own aircraft production facilities. It also has an air transport division called “Antonov Airlines”, which is the main scope of this blog post. According to their website, Antonov Airlines has a fleet of seven Antonovs An-124 (NATO reporting name: “Condor”) each of which is capable of carrying 120 tonnes of cargo. Their fleet also contains one An-74 “Coaler”, an Antonov An-26 “Curl”, an Antonov An-22 “Cock” and the world’s sole completed and famous Antonov An-225 “Cossack”, capable of lifting up to 250 tonnes.

A key difference between Antonov cargo aircraft and most cargo aircraft in the Western World is the military development background, allowing the aircraft to be loaded and unloaded at remote destinations where little ground equipment is available. Most western cargo aircraft, such as the Boeing 747, require ground equipment for lifting cargo high enough to allow them to be moved into the aircraft, and many models (Boeing 767, Boeing 777, Airbus A300, Airbus A330) only have a relatively small side cargo door, introducing size constraints. In contrast, most Antonov models have an opening nose and/or rear, and come with a ramp and/or “kneeling” system that simply allows vehicles to drive in. Western rivals include the Airbus A400M, Boeing C-17A Globemaster III and Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy, all of which are solely operated by Air Forces.

Various competing airlines exist. The largest rival would be Russia’s Volga-Dnepr Airlines, operating a mixed fleet of Ilyushins Il-76 and Antonov An-124 cargo aircraft. Other rivals include Ruby Star and TransAviaExport, both from Belarus, and Silk Way Airlines of Azerbaijan, all operating a fleet of Ilyushin Il-76 cargo aircraft. Their ability to transport heavy and oversize cargo to airstrips with little ground support gives these aircraft a unique selling point that no Western commercially-operated aircraft can offer.

For transporting military vehicles overseas, smaller Air Forces in the Western World therefore commonly rely on these commercial cargo airlines for transport. For example, the Belgian Military has been using Antonov Airlines to transport their helicopters to Mali for UN Peacekeeping Mission MINUSMA. Also the Dutch Military has been using Antonov Airlines Antonovs An-124 for transporting equipment.

Twitter avatar for @BelgiumDefenceBelgian Defence @BelgiumDefence
Le 6 juillet dernier, un Antonov 124 atterrissait à l'aéroport de Beauvechain avec à son bord 2 #NH90 TTH. Les appareils 🇧🇪 les équipages ainsi que le personnel au sol étaient opérationnels depuis début mars au #Mali 🇲🇱 dans le cadre de la #MINUSMA, mission de paix de l'ONU

July 9th 2018

7 Retweets16 Likes
Twitter avatar for @dhcluchtmachtDHC Luchtmacht @dhcluchtmacht
Antonov vrachtvliegtuig staat aan dek! Apaches worden over plusminus half uur ingeladen. #misie #mali
Image

May 7th 2014

40 Retweets6 Likes

Back in 2020, the Government of the Netherlands organized an airlift using Russia’s Volga-Dnepr Airlines Ilyushins Il-76 to transport a field hospital to overseas Dutch Caribbean Territories.

Twitter avatar for @C_ZMCARIBFrank Boots @C_ZMCARIB
De eerste Hospitainer voor de bovenwinden is vandaag op de luchthaven van Sint Maarten gearriveerd. Nu ontladen en installeren. De hospitainer voor Sint Eustatius moet nog per schip verder worden getransporteerd. @MinVWS @MinBZK @Defensie @caribsupport #COVID19 #COVID19NL
Image
Image

April 19th 2020

23 Retweets67 Likes

Around the evacuation of Kabul in 2021, the German Air Force used Antonov Airlines An-124 cargo aircraft for delivering military equipment and aid to Afghanistan. In July 2021, Antonov Airlines’ An-225 was used to deliver three military helicopters from their deployment in Afghanistan back to RAF Brize Norton.

Twitter avatar for @HAZHAZ @HAZ
Der Supertransporter #Antonov AN-124 soll dringend benötigte Hilfsgüter und militärisches Gerät für die #Evakuierung in #Afghanistan an den #Hindukusch bringen. Doch warum greift die #Bundeswehr auf eine Privatfirma zurück und nicht auf ihren #A400M?
Die Bundeswehr setzte auf eine Antonov statt auf ihre A400M – das hat nicht geklapptDer Supertransporter Antonov AN-124 sollte dringend benötigte Hilfsgüter und militärisches Gerät für die Evakuierung in Afghanistan an den Hindukusch bringen. Doch warum greift die Bundeswehr eigentlich auf eine Privatfirma zurück und nicht auf ihren A400M?haz.de

August 19th 2021

7 Likes
Twitter avatar for @avtalk_asiaAviation Talk @avtalk_asia
🇺🇦 ANTONOV Airlines AN-225 Mriya “ADB359F” lining up for a sunset departure at RAF Brize Norton after dropping off 23 tonnes of cargo including; three RAF Puma helicopters returning from duty in Kabul, Afghanistan. © @NCLairpics #AviationTalk #aviaitonnews #aviation
Image

July 25th 2021

Small Western-European NATO countries like the Netherlands and Belgium therefore commonly rely on airlines operating Antonov an Ilyushin cargo aircraft. Given the current geopolitical landscape, they might wish to avoid doing business with airlines from Belarus and Russia. Asides from (Bela)russian operators, a key remaining airline is Antonov Airlines. That raises a new question: where are Antonov Airlines’ 11 aircraft currently at?

Current status of the Antonov Airlines fleet

Combining fleet data from Antonov Airlines’ website and flight data from Flightradar24, a spatial overview of Antonov Airlines aircraft can be created.

Out of a fleet of eleven aircraft, five are currently located at Kyiv Gostomel Airport (Antonov Airport). The remaining six are currently located at various airports around the globe. The five aircraft on ground at Kyiv Gostomel Airport include two of their six Antonovs An-124, as well as both of their smaller An-74 and An-26 aircraft. Also their heavy An-22 and An-225 cargo aircraft are currently both located at Kyiv Gostomel Airport.

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Gostomel Airport and Antonov Airlines: a status update
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