An-225, the world's largest transport aircraft

An-225 aircraft by airline carrier Antonov, Ukraine is currently the world's largest transport aircraft, with a payload of up to 640 tons.

An-225 Mirya transport aircraft was built by Antonov design bureau, Soviet Union, in the 80s of last century. Mirya in Ukrainian means "Dream".The An-225 was originally designed to transport the Buran space shuttle and the Energia rocket.In the picture is the space shuttle Buran on An-225's back.(Photo: Wiki)

This transport plane made its first public appearance at the Paris Air Show in 1989. But it was not until 2002 that the new An-225 made its first commercial flight, delivering 216,000 meals with a total weight of 187, 5 tons from Germany to Oman, a Middle Eastern country for US soldiers stationed there.(Photo: Airline.net)

The An-225 has a capacity of 640 tons, equipped with 6 engines and 32 landing wheels.It can transport extremely heavy loads, up to 250 tons in the inner compartment, or carry oversized loads of up to 200 tons on the body.In the photo is the landing gear system of An-225.(Photo: Wiki)

In the late 1980s, a second An-225 was built.But after the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1990, this plan was canceled.To date, only one An-225 is managed by airline carrier Antonov, Ukraine.In the photo, the An-225 is moving a 140-ton generator from Croatia to the Philippines in September 2013.(Photo: Demotix)

The generator is transferred to the An-225's compartment.(Photo: Demotix)

The cargo compartment of the An-225 has a length of 43m;6.4 m wide;4.4m high.(Photo: Demotix)

In the photo is the latest flight of the An-225 on January 26, carrying four T-72A main battle tanks from the Czech Republic's Ostrava airport to Nigeria.(Photo: Sina)

T-72A is the main battle tank manufactured by the Soviet Union in 1970. Up to now, this tank is still popular in many countries.A T-72A weighing over 40 tons.(Photo: Sina)

Today, the An-225 is the flagship cargo plane in aviation carrier Antonov's fleet.In the picture is the An-225 aircraft taking off from the airport of Ostrava, Czech.(Photo: Sina)