Antonov An-225: World's largest plane makes rare trip to Australia

Plane spotters turned up en masse on Tuesday as the world's largest plane touched down at Vaclav Havel Airport in the Czech Republic.

The Ukrainian cargo jet named "Mriya" will make a rare journey across three continents on a delivery mission to Perth, Australia. It stopped in Prague to load its cargo - a 117-tonne generator - before taking off on Thursday for its first stop, Turkmenistan.

Officially called the Antonov An-225, the plane was developed in the 1980s to carry the Soviet version of the space shuttle on its back, CNN reported.

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Mryia's wingspan measures 88 metres and its maximum take-off load is 640 tonnes. For all that weight, the super plane needs a lot of wheels; 32 in total. It is rare to see Mriya in action as the plane is only used once or twice a year to transport heavy loads. 

This is the first time the plane has travelled to Australia and thousands of people are expected to turn up at Perth airport on Sunday to witness the historic event. It will remain in Perth for a few days before departing on May 17.