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Antonov An-22 Antei

Antonov · Cargo · Retired

The largest turboprop aircraft in history.

Length57.92 m
Wingspan64.4 m
Range5,000 km
MTOW250 t
Built68
First flight1965
Our numbers

Derived metrics

Computed by aircraft.fyi from the core specification — see how we calculate these.

Range per tonne#64 of 65
20.0 km/t maximum range ÷ MTOW in tonnes
Span-to-length ratio#10 of 68
1.11 wingspan ÷ fuselage length
Weight per metre#19 of 68
4.32 t/m MTOW ÷ fuselage length
Range in hours#33 of 65
6.8 h maximum range ÷ cruise speed
Sense of scale

How big is it, really?

The Antonov An-22 Antei's wingspan, against things you already know the size of.

Antonov An-22 Antei64.4 m
Football pitch (width)68 m
Blue whale25 m
New Routemaster bus11.2 m
You (probably)1.75 m
Specification

The numbers

Length57.92 m
Wingspan64.40 m
Height12.53 m
MTOW250,000 kg
Max payload60,000 kg
Engines4 × Kuznetsov NK-12MA (contra-rotating)
First flight27 February 1965
Built68

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Last verified: 2026-07-14 · Spot an error? business@luck.fyi

The story

What makes it different

When the An-22 appeared at the 1965 Paris Air Show, unannounced, the West was stunned: a 250-tonne aircraft — on propellers. Four NK-12 engines, the most powerful turboprops ever made, each spinning two contra-rotating propellers, dragged 60-tonne payloads out of dirt strips no jet could use.

Named Antei after the giant of Greek myth, it set more than forty world records, carried tanks, missiles and drilling rigs across the Soviet Union, and pioneered the twin-tail, ramp-loading formula the An-124 and An-225 later perfected.

Sixty-eight were built. Antonov Airlines flew the world's last one commercially into the 2020s before retiring it — the end of the giant turboprop era.

Common questions

Antonov An-22 Antei — the short answers

How fast is the Antonov An-22 Antei?
The Antonov An-22 Antei cruises at about 740 km/h — roughly 400 knots, or 460 mph.
How far can the Antonov An-22 Antei fly?
The Antonov An-22 Antei has a maximum range of about 5,000 km (2,700 nautical miles, 3,108 miles). At its cruise speed that is roughly 6.8 hours in the air.
Is the Antonov An-22 Antei still in production?
Status: Retired. The Antonov An-22 Antei first flew in 1965, and about 68 have been built.
How big is the Antonov An-22 Antei?
The Antonov An-22 Antei is 57.92 m long with a wingspan of 64.4 m and a height of 12.53 m. Its maximum takeoff weight is 250,000 kg.
Variants

The Antonov An-22 Antei line

An-22
The production airlifter.
An-22A
Uprated later batch.
Operators

Who flies the Antonov An-22 Antei

No current operators — this aircraft's flying days are over. The operators of record are below.

RUSoviet / Russian Air ForceThe main military fleet across five decades.
UAAntonov AirlinesFlew the last airworthy An-22 commercially until its retirement.