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Antonov AN 225 took off from Leipzig for Namibia on Wednesday
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The world’s largest aircraft and crew rested in Leipzig for two days, and on Wednesday the Antonov will continue to Africa.
Schkeuditz – The largest aircraft in the world, the Antonow AN-225, landed at the airport in Halle / Leipzig on Monday evening. On Wednesday the journey continues to Africa.
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The plane is expected to linger at Leipzig Airport from Monday to Wednesday. © News 5 / pit
The big plane had reached the airport at 5.44 p.m. – with an empty stomach and coming from Kiev-Gostomel. It is the 29th time that the Antonow has landed at Leipzig Airport.
As early as 2020, the Antonov, with a stop in Leipzig, was used to transport protective masks and other equipment in the fight against the corona pandemic, and this time the machine has a similar goal:
If the plane is supposed to take off again on Wednesday, it will bring relief supplies to fight the pandemic to Africa on behalf of the EU and the Bundeswehr.
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According to media reports, the machine should take to the air again at around 11 a.m.
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The take-off of the world’s largest aircraft attracted some interested spectators to Leipzig / Halle Airport in the morning.
The Antonov AN-225 took off shortly after 11 a.m. for Africa.
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As the German press agency reported on Wednesday afternoon, tons of relief supplies are being delivered to Namibia. As the foreign ministry of the south-west African state announced on Wednesday, the first of three aid flights from Germany is to arrive in the capital Windhoek on Thursday afternoon. According to reports, the Antonov has already taken off for Windhoek.
According to the information, the Namibian government had appealed to the international community in view of a dramatic increase in Covid 19 infections and also submitted an official request to the European Union. The aid is coordinated by the civil protection mechanism of the EU, as the ministry announced.
Namibia with almost 2.5 million inhabitants has officially registered around 97,100 infections with 1,662 deaths and is reaching the limits of its medical infrastructure. In the winter of the southern hemisphere, Namibia, like many other African countries, is currently being hit by a third corona wave. The government has therefore imposed severe restrictions.
The corona pandemic has also delayed a planned parliamentary debate on the signature-ready agreement to come to terms with the German colonial era.
In the agreement, more than 100 years after the crimes of the German colonial power in what is now Namibia, the federal government recognizes the atrocities committed against the Herero and Nama ethnic groups as genocide. Berlin wants to officially ask for forgiveness of the descendants and support them with 1.1 billion euros.
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