An ambitious plan to circle the globe in few days with the Antonov An-140-100 twin turboprop on show here has been postponed "for some time," Pavel Naumenko, general director for the airplane's manufacturer, Kharkov State Aircraft Manufacturing Co., told Show News.
"The initial flight plan envisaged 15 stop-overs to cover 25,000 km, circling the globe from Europe to Far East, then USA, Canada and Greenland before arriving Farnborough for static display. Total flight time would have been 54 to 57 hours," he said.
"The decision to put off the record flight was taken two weeks before the Farnborough, due to circumstances beyond our control," noted Naumenko.
But the real reason is that, due to a legal ruling by the Swedish Arbitration Court, and supported by Canadian authorities, Ukrainian state-owned property can be seized to compensate a claim made by the Cyprus-based company TMR Energy Ltd against the State Property Fund of Ukraine. A year ago, an Antonov An-124 cargo jet was held by Canadian authorities at Goose Bay. Although the An-140 which was to have made the globe-girdling flight belongs to private carrier Ilyich-Avia, manufacturer Kharkov decided to wait until the tension eases before making the trip.
