“Look, it is enormous, but what it is doing,” a general said. He and other aviators with big stars were watching the fly of the largest transport plane in the world An-225 Mria.
Like a huge white-winged seagull the airliner was cruising over the landing field jiggling its wings. Then a quartet of Ukrainian pursuit planes went up to demonstrate unbelievable pirouettes. There is no doubt that Kyiv became the capital of the world aviation.
There, at Antonov airdrome in Hostomel they opened the 8th International Aerospace Salon AviaSvit-XXI-2012 attended by 292 companies from 37 countries.
The lieutenant colonel Mindaugas Kviklys from Lithuania told The Day: “It is the first time I am here and I’m really interested. Everything is impressive. I am not an aviator but a landsman and such machines really impress me. I see that Ukraine has made huge progress. I am also proud that there is a plane made by our entrepreneurs. Lithuania wants to have won its wings, too.”
Meanwhile, the turbojet plane An-158 was preparing to take-off. “It is a technological and competitive plane. It meets all modern security requirements and norms of safety and ecology,” a man was shouting into a megaphone trying to shout down roaring engines. “It will replace An-24, Yak-40 and Tu-134.” A short run-out and the plane is in the air…
The Day noticed a man wearing a star of Hero of Ukraine. “I am really happy with the development of the Ukrainian international salon.
Over 16 years its level has increased and the number of its participants has multiplied. I really enjoy it. You have just seen An-158 flying and landing.
This machine has every chance to become one of the world bestsellers. It is the most modern regional plane in the Ukrainian aviation industry. In Antonov design office they are sure that this plane will be demanded in many countries” Oleksandr Halunenko told The Day and a man next to him added: “This is the pilot who was the first to test Mria. By the way, it achieved a Guinness record by taking to the air a large collection of Ukrainian painters.”
This unique art gallery in the air was attended by the first Vice-Prime Minister of Ukraine Valerii Khoroshkovsky.
Answering The Day’s question how the Ukrainian authorities are going to support the aviation industry he said that in the near future they will hold a meeting with aviators and this question will be discussed. Meanwhile, the source of The Day at Antonov state enterprise informed that plane constructors are lobbying a law to remove VAT for spare parts and equipment imported into Ukraine and needed for construction of Ukrainian planes.
As any other international exhibit, AviaSvit was a place for meetings and discussions of experts, signing contracts for purchasing planes and agreements about cooperation in space.
On the first day of its work Ukraine and Sudan signed an intergovernmental agreement about cooperation in space. We hope it is just the first one.
