Originally Posted by
FNGFO
They were thinking of restarting the 124 production line as the current airframes are getting long in the tooth. Do that and cobbling together another 225 like design might be feasible. Depends on how badly the heavy lift is needed around the world.
I'm pretty sure there was a second, never-completed airframe. It was going to be prohibitively expensive to complete, given the amount of time that had passed since it was started (decades), but maybe not as cost-prohibitive as building a new one. Still, the tooling and jigs needed probably don't exist anymore, as mentioned before. You need structures designed for the aircraft to hold things in place, support various parts, and not just for production, but servicing and checks. Don't know if that second airframe was damaged either.
Checked on google:
A second An-225 was partially built during the late 1980s for the Soviet space program. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the cancellation of the
Buran program, the lone operational An-225 was placed in storage in 1994.
[7][8] The six
Ivchenko-Progress engines were removed for use on An-124s, and the second uncompleted An-225 airframe was also stored. In the 1990s, a cargoliner bigger than the An-124 was clearly needed. The first An-225 was restored by 2001.
[9][10]
By 2000, the need for additional An-225 capacity had become apparent, so the decision was made in September 2006 to complete the second An-225. That second airframe was scheduled for completion around 2008 but was subject to delays.
[11] By August 2009, the aircraft had not been completed and work had been abandoned.
[12][13] In May 2011, the Antonov CEO reportedly said that the completion of a second An-225 Mriya transport aircraft with a carrying capacity of 250 tons requires at least $300 million, but if the financing is provided, its completion could be achieved in three years.
[14] According to different sources, the second aircraft is 60–70% complete.
[15][16][17]