Baku, Azerbaijan, May 10
Trend:
Ukraine's state enterprise, Antonov, the country's sole aircraft producer, began the test flights of a new transport aircraft, An-178.
The new plane's solemn rollout was held in early April.
"The test flight program has just kicked off, the plane will make several flights, and then the schedule of tests will be drawn up," Antonov's press service told the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN.
The enterprise said the An-178 was designed on the basis of the An-158 passenger aircraft.
The aircraft has a modified form of the fuselage, the ramp for loading and unloading bulky cargo and is capable of carrying up to 18 metric tons of cargo, including the 1C high-capacity shipping containers. The aircraft is designed to replace the An-12 transport aircraft.
Antonov plans to deliver 12 An-178 planes to the airlines of China and Azerbaijan.
Antonov's press service also said that agreements were signed to deliver 10 aircraft for Azerbaijan's Silk Way Airlines, and this airline became the first customer for the An-178.