An announcement

In March 2022, Flight Simulator CEO Jorg Neuman had announced that the An-22 Mriya, the world's largest aircraft, would fly again on Flight Simulator. This aircraft was destroyed in its hangar at Hostomel Airport, also nicknamed Antonov Airport.

On February 2, 2023, during a YouTube live, Neuman officially announced that the An-225 will be available as early as February 27, 2023, which is the official date of the aircraft's destruction.

Complicated development

The development was not simple: there is no AN-225 in a museum, no plans,... everything was destroyed during the first days of the Russian invasion. Fligth Sim and iniBuilds then turned to Antonov Airlines, the company using Mriya. The different teams of the company then shared a lot of information, images and videos of the plane with the developers. The result is a fully functional digital An-225 :

• a very detailed cockpit at each place of the cockpit (pilot, co-pilot but also the different flight engineers),
• passenger cabin and cargo compartment design
• cargo door opening (in accelerated version or the real 6 minutes version)
• possibility to fill the cargo compartment with different loads actually carried and that will influence the flight of the aircraft
• possibility to perform an airplane tour at man's height
• and many others !

A paid package for the second An-225

Neuman said that the An-225 on Microsoft Flight Simulator is paid at a cost of €19.99. Thanks to an agreement with Antonov Airlines, the entire amount raised will be donated to the cargo company in order to help rebuild the new An-225. A partnership is in place to formalize the transfer of funds. It should be noted that a clause is provided in case the second An-225 is not built. In this case, Antonov Airlines promises to use the donated sum to remember and commemorate this mythical aircraft.