THE world’s largest cargo plane paid a flying visit to Ayrshire.

The Antonov AN-225 landed at Prestwick Airport on Sunday, August 2 with crowds of plane spotters filling up the surrounding road.

The massive Soviet-built aircraft landed at Prestwick Airport at around 2.49pm on its way from Bangor, US before it flew off to Châteauroux-Centre Airport, France, at around 4.30pm.

The strategic airlift cargo plane, which is powered by six turbofan engines, has a maximum take-off weight of 640 tonnes and a wingspan of 290 ft.

The plane has a maximum speed of 530 mph and a range of 9,600 miles.

The plane was originally designed to carry the Russian space shuttle by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Ukrainian SSR within the Soviet Union in the 80s.

Picture by Peter Watkins.