Airbus A380 and the Biggest Plane

The Antonov An-225 Mriya is the world's heaviest and largest aircraft [MTOW: 640,000 kg or 1,411,000 lb]. The An-225 is larger than the Airbus A380 airliner, and considerably bigger than the Antonov An-124, 747-400ERF, and C-5 Galaxy, the nearest equivalent heavy airlifters.

Mriya is still the biggest airlifter even Airbus continues to build A380-800F Freighter with MTOW around 590,000 kg.
However, Airbus A380 is still the biggest airliner in the world because An-225 is an airlifter.


Length Comparison, A380 and An-225


Comparison between A380 Airliner versus An-225 Mriya

Airbus A380

Antonov An-225

Crew

2

6

Payload

90,800 kg (200,000 lb)

250,000 kg (550,000 lb)

Length

73 m (239.5 ft)

84 m (275.6 ft)

Wing Span

79.8 m (261.8 ft)

88.4 m (290 ft)

Height

24.1 m (79 ft)

18.1 m (59.3 ft)

MTOW

560,000 kg (1,235,000 lb)

600,000 kg (1,322,773 lb)

Poweplant

4x Engine Alliance GP7000

6× ZMKB Progress D-18

(turbofans)

4x Roll-Royce Trent 900

Takeoff Run

(with MTOW)

2.750 m (9,020 ft)

3,500 m (11,500 ft)

Max Speed

1145.5 km/h (618.5 knot)

850 km/h (460 knots)

Mach 0.96 (711.8 mph)

Mach 0.71 (530 mph)

Cruise Speed

1014.3 km/h (547.7 knot)

750 km/h (400 knots)

Mach 0.85 (630 mph)

Mach 0.62 (465 mph)

Range

15,200 km (8,200 nmi)

14,000 km (7,560 mi)

Service Ceiling

13,115 m (43,000 ft)

10,000 m (33,000 ft)


From this table you can see that A380 is more efficient on crew that being used. This Airbus airplane is only used two compared with six for An-225. An-225 is heavier than A380 with difference around 60 tonnes. The payload of Mriya is also twice heavier than the Super Jumbo.

The A380 is shorter than An-225 but it is higher due to the rudder. The wingspan of A380 is also shorter than An-225, only around 8 meter.

It is amazing that maximum speed of A380 is close to Mach 1 (around Mach 0.96). For this speed comparison, A380 is highest both for maximum and cruise speed. Although An-225 has 2 more engine than A380, the range of A380 is still longer. The service ceiling is also higher.

With lower MTOW, the A380 only need 2750 meter for takeoff, compared with 3500 meter needed for the biggest airlifter.
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