While the name Antonov An-990 sounds like a massive next-generation freighter, it is not a real-world aircraft produced by the Antonov Company . Instead, it is a popular fictional "ultra-super-heavy" concept designed for flight simulators like
Buy if: You need to airlift a submarine and hate the environment.
Avoid if: Your airport has grass. Or a fence. Or a neighboring country.
Conclusion: Is the An-990 the Best?
If "best" means absolute maximum lifting capacity in a single airframe—then yes, the Antonov An-990 is the best cargo aircraft ever conceived. It is the aviation equivalent of a blue whale: slow, inefficient, beautiful, and impossibly large.
Looking up Antonov aircraft models, the An-990 isn't listed. The most recent models are maybe in development. The user might have confused the model number. Common errors include mixing digits, like An-990 vs. An-225. Another possibility is that the user is referring to a different aircraft altogether but misstated the model.
Cockpit – Surprisingly Analog
The flight deck seats six: pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer, navigation officer, engine systems manager, and a therapist. The yoke is actually a ship's wheel. Warning lights cover an entire wall. The manual weighs 400 lbs.
Economic Infrastructure: Very few runways in the world could support the weight of a fully loaded An-990. The cost of upgrading global airport infrastructure to accommodate such a giant was prohibitive.
The Antonov An-990 "Juggernaut": A Study of Hyper-Theoretical Heavy Lift 1. Introduction
- Distinction: It is the first large aircraft to use propfan engines (Progress D-27).
- Efficiency: It offers near-jet speeds (approx 500 mph) with 20-30% better fuel efficiency than standard turbofans.
- Status: Development was plagued by funding issues and geopolitical conflict, and the program is largely considered stalled/cancelled.

