An Antonov-225 Mriya plane at Gostomel, some 30 km from Kiev -AFP photo
KIEV: Ukraine’s main plane maker told US President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday that he may want to purchase one of its jets after he called Boeing’s version of Air Force One too costly.
The suggestion was made in clear jest on the Antonov company’s Twitter account.
” May be it is better to consider aircraft as Air Force One?” the plane maker asked.
Trump tweeted on Tuesday that “Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!”
Boeing later explained that no such contract existed and that it had only received $170 million from the White House “to determine the capabilities” of a new presidential fleet.
Antonov may best be known for being the maker of the Mriya — the world’s largest cargo jet.
Former Soviet Ukraine is a strong US ally but is also concerned by Trump’s recent praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kiev blames the Kremlin for plotting and backing a 31-month pro-Russian separatist war in the east of Ukraine that has claimed nearly 10,000 lives and plunged Moscow’s relations with the West to a post-Cold War low. -AFP