The new Ukrainian An-178 first flew in the sky

7 May conducted a first flight with its An-178 transport, just three weeks after it staged a ceremony in Kyiv.

The first one-hour flight was carried out by the test-pilots crew, which consisted of: Test-pilot of the first class Andrii Spasibo – chief of the crew, test-pilot of the first class (the second pilot), the Hero of Ukraine – Sergii Troshin, senior test engineer – Mykola Sidorenko.

“The crew reported on a successful flight task realization,” the company adds in a brief statement about the milestone event.The aircraft carries the registration UR-EXP

Azerbaijani cargo airline Silk Way Airlines and Antonov State Enterprise signed a contract to supply ten Ukrainian Antonov An-178. This was announced by general designer of the enterprise Dmitry Kiva.

Antonov also entered an agreement on the joint production of these aircraft with China. All the aircraft will be assembled in Kyiv. The amount of the transaction was not specified. In addition, China signed an agreement to purchase two An-178.

The average price of one aircraft is $ 40 million. According to Kiva, currently the previous package of orders for this aircraft is about 100 units. The buying interest of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.

An-178 – medium transport aircraft carrying capacity of 15-18 tons. His speed – 825 km/h, capacity – 18 tonnes (two standard sea container), altitude – 12 km, range – 5500 km.

According to rough estimates of experts, the price of the aircraft will start at $ 25-40 million.

This aircraft will replace the turboprop An-12 and C-160, most of which resource is exhausted. In particular, this applies to Soviet An-12.

The aircraft will be officially unveiled at the Paris Air Show Le Bourget.

Ievgen Reznik, EMPR
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