Antonov An-24
The Antonov An-24 is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau and manufactured by the Kyiv, Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude Aviation Factories. It was the first of a future family of turboprops by Antonov. The An-30 came next with a cartographic configuration, then the An-26 with a military configuration and lastly the An-32 with modernized equipment. The An-132 was intended to be the next member of the An-24 family, but Saudi Arabia's Taqnia ceased cooperation and the only prototype was destroyed, which led to the project being cancelled. A Chinese licensed-built version, the Xi'an Y-7, is heavily based on the An-24, but is not a member of the family.
Design and development
First flown in 1959, the An-24 was produced in some 1,000 units of various versions; in 2023, 93 were still in service worldwide, mostly in the Commonwealth of Independent States and Africa.It was designed to replace the veteran piston Ilyushin Il-14 transport on short- to medium-haul trips, optimised for operating from rough strips and unprepared airports in remote locations. The high-wing layout protects engines and blades from debris, the power-to-weight ratio is higher than that of many comparable aircraft, and the machine is rugged, requiring minimal ground-support equipment.
Due to its rugged airframe and good performance, the An-24 was adapted to perform many secondary missions, such as ice reconnaissance and engine/propeller test bed, as well as further development to produce the An-26 tactical transport, An-30 photo-mapping/survey aircraft and An-32 tactical transport with more powerful engines. Various projects were envisaged such as a four-jet, short- and medium-haul airliner and various iterations of powerplant.
The main production line was at the Kyiv-Svyatoshino aircraft production plant, which built 985, with 180 built at Ulan Ude, and a further 197 An-24T tactical transport/freighters at Irkutsk. Production in the USSR was shut down by 1978.
Production continued at China's Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation, which made licensed, reverse-engineered, and redesigned aircraft as the Xian Y-7 and its derivatives. Manufacture of the Y-7, in civil form, has now been supplanted by the MA60 derivative with western engines and avionics, to improve performance and economy, and widen the export appeal.
The aircraft introduced in Mongolia was initially planned to be used by the air force, but was eventually handed over to a private airline company for use, and some were later used in research facilities. Since then, as the aircraft has deteriorated, it has been stored in Ulaanbaatar.
Variants
Prototype
;An-24Produced aircraft
;An-24;An-24A
;An-24B
;An-24T
;An-24RT
;An-24PRT
;An-24RV
;An-24ShT
;An-24TV
;An-24V
;An-24VSR
Special mission aircraft
;An-24ALK;An-24LL
;An-24LP
;An-24LR-1 'Toros'
;An-24LR-2 'Nit'
;An-24PS
;An-24PRT
;An-24R
;An-24RR
;An-24RT
;An-24T 'Troyanda'
;An-24USh
;An-24AEW
Ended as a plan only
;An-24A;An-24D
;An-24K
;An-24AT
;An-24AT-RD
;An-24AT-U
;An-24T
Advanced
;An-26;An-30
;An-32
;An-34
;An-44
;An-50
;Xian Y-7
;MA60
Operators
Military operators
; : Royal Cambodian Air Force – 2; : Korean People's Army Air Force – 1
;
;
Civil operators
As of July 2018, 86 An-24s were in airline service.Following fatal incidents in July 2011 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed the accelerated decommissioning of An-24s, which resulted in a ban for this type from scheduled flights inside Russia. However, later the ban was cancelled and, as of 2023, An-24 are still in limited commercial service in Russia.
- SCAT Airlines
- Air Moldova Used on flights to CIS states and as charter aircraft
- Angara Airlines
- Komiaviatrans
- ALROSA (airline)
- IrAero
- KrasAvia
- Khabarovsk Airlines
- Polar Airlines Largest passenger operator of An-24
- Yakutia Airlines
- Phetchabun Airlines
- Motor Sich Airlines
Former civil operators