Antonov Airlines transfers its base to Leipzig airport

KYIV. May 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) - The Antonov State Enterprise has said that due to the impossibility of performing international flights from Ukraine, five Antonov An-124-100 Ruslan planes are temporarily based at the Leipzig airport in Germany.

"The operations of a branch of the air transport vision of the Antonov State Enterprise, which is known worldwide as Antonov Airlines, have been organized there [at the Leipzig airport], and a technical maintenance facility for aircraft has been opened there as well," the company said on social media on Thursday.

The measure allows the enterprise to continue fulfilling its commercial and state orders to transport super-heavy and large cargoes, it said.

As reported earlier, the Antonov company's base in Hostomel was rendered inoperable, its base at the Sviatoshyn airfield was damaged, and Antonov An-26, An-74 planes and the world's largest cargo plane, the An-225 Mriya, were destroyed.

Besides, another five An-12, An-22, An-28, An-132D, and An-124-100-150 planes were also damaged, it said.

The Antonov Enterprise removed five An-124 planes from Ukraine before February 24.