Antonov (model prefix "An-") has built a total of approximately 22,000 aircraft, and thousands of its planes are operating in the former Soviet Union and in developing countries.

In 1952, the Bureau was relocated to Kiev, a city with a rich aviation history and an aircraft-manufacturing infrastructure restored after the destruction caused by World War II.

In 1959, the bureau began construction of the separate Flight Testing and Improvement Base in suburban Hostomel (now the Antonov Airport).

In 1966, after the major expansion in the Sviatoshyn neighbourhood of the city, the company was renamed to another disguise name: "Kiev Mechanical Plant".

Two independent aircraft production and repair facilities, under engineering supervision of the Antonov Bureau, also appeared in Kiev during this period.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, the company established itself as the Soviet Union's main designer of military transport aircraft with dozens of new modifications in development and production.

[citation needed] The Bureau enlarged the "Ruslan" design even more for the Soviet spaceplane programme logistics, creating the An-225 "Mriya" in 1985.

Antonov Design Bureau remained a state-owned company after Ukraine achieved its independence in 1991 and is since regarded as a strategic national asset.

[7] However Ukraine has been slowly recovering the deficit from breaking ties with Russia by entering new markets such as the Persian Gulf region[8][9] and expanding its presence in old ones such as India.

[10][11][12][13][14] In July 2018, Antonov was able to secure a deal with Boeing in order to procure airplane parts which were no longer available due to breakdown of relations with Russia.

In 2009, the once-independent "Aviant" aeroplane-assembling plant in Kyiv became part of Antonov, facilitating a full serial manufacturing cycle of the company.

The Security Service of Ukraine established that the former director general of Antonov Company Serhiy Bychkov had not provided access to the site for the National Guard in January and February 2022 and thus obstructed preparations for defence.

In March 2023, Serhiy Bychkov was arrested, in April he faced formal suspicion in connection with the loss of An-225 Mriya and damages to Antonov amounting to ₴8.4 million.

[31] Sometimes defunct and sometimes normal, the An-24, An-26, An-30 and An-32 family of twin turboprop, high-winged, passenger-cargo-troop transport aircraft are important for domestic/short-haul air services particularly in parts of the world once led by communist governments.