Covid-19: How unwanted planes are parked in aircraft boneyards across the world

It's been one year since the UAE first grounded flights because of the global pandemic, and the world's aircraft graveyards are littered with parked jets

Grounded airplanes parked at Tarmac Aerosave in Tarbes, France following a lack of travel during the coronavirus pandemic. Reuters

The sun rises over parked jets in St Athan at eCube Solution's aircraft storage and disassembly facility in Wales. Courtesy eCube

An A380 Airbus airplane sits on the tarmac in Tarbes on June 19, 2020. Reuters

Passenger aircraft operated by Europe's major airlines stand parked in a storage facility operated by Tarmac Aerosave at Teruel Airport in Spain on May 18, 2020. Getty Images

Lufthansa jets were temporarily pulled out of service and parked at Germany's Berlin-Brandenburg Airport during the coronavirus crisis last year. Getty Images

Grounded jets, including Airbus A380s, Boeing Max 8s and other smaller aircraft, are seen at the Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage facility on May 15, 2020 in Alice Springs, Australia. Getty Images

A jogger passes grounded aeroplanes at London City Airport on March 29, 2020 in London, England. Getty Images

Grounded aeroplanes seen at the Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage facility on May 15, 2020 in Alice Springs, Australia. Getty Images

eCube Solutions facility in Castellon, Spain. The company had to increase storage space by more than 40 per cent to cope with the pandemic demand. Courtesy eCube Solutions

As Covid-19 continues to spread across the globe commercial airline travel has all but stopped. Airline jets are grounded at Melbourne Airport due to travel restrictions in Australia. Getty Images

KLM jets parked at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, Netherlands, April 2, 2020. Reuters

Germany's Lufthansa jets undergo a technical check-up to ensure safety standards after being grounded because of the coronavirus pandemic in Frankfurt, Germany, July 30, 2020. Reuters

Japan Airlines jets on the ground. Reuters

Airplanes parked at Lisbon Airport in Portugal. Reuters

Airplanes sit on the tarmac at the site of French aircraft storage and recycling company Tarmac Aerosave in Tarbes following the coronavirus outbreak in France, June 19, 2020. Reuters

Delta Airlines jets parked at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, California, US, March 26, 2020. EPA

Delta Airlines are just one of several airline operators turning to storage solutions for aircraft during the global pandemic. EPA

Airline jets are grounded at Melbourne Airport because of travel restrictions in Australia. Getty Images

eCube Solution's St Athan storage facility in Wales - the company has disassembled hundreds of aircraft including six Gulf Air A330s, two Etihad A319s and one Qatar A319. Courtesy eCube

Aircraft grounded because of the Covid-19 pandemic, including planes operated by TUI pictured on the apron at Manchester Airport in the UK. AFP

A row of grounded Thai Airways passenger jets at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on August 1, 2020, as passenger numbers plummeted because of the Covid-19 pandemic. AFP

Passenger planes parked at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport during the coronavirus crisis. Getty Images

Jets stocked by Tarmac Aerosave, an aircraft recycling and storage company, are pictured on the company parking area in Azereix, southwestern France. AFP

A Cathay Pacific passenger airplane is taxied onto the runway as other aircraft are seen parked on the tarmac at Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok International Airport on March 10, 2020. AFP

Aircrafts from different airlines are seen grounded in Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 21, 2020 in Sepang, Malaysia. Getty Images

On March 23, 2020, exactly one year ago, the UAE announced that all passenger flights were to be grounded to prevent the spread of the coronavirus via air travel. While flights have since resumed across the Emirates, the year that followed has been the most challenging in aviation history.

With travel restrictions and border closures in place around the world, a lack of demand for travel means that several airlines have been forced to ground their jets and, in some cases, their entire fleets.

But parking a 40-metre-long aircraft is no mean feat, and finding storage space for an entire squadron is a logistical nightmare.

Last year, Germany's biggest airline, Lufthansa, relied on Frankfurt Airport shutting down operations on its newest runway twice, so that it could park  grounded planes on the tarmac.

In the UAE, Emirates was fortunate to have access to Dubai World Central Airport for grounded jets, but that's something of a rarity. Most airlines do not have access to massive amounts of airport parking space. Instead, the world's airlines have been increasingly turning to aircraft boneyards as a means to navigate the circumstances they find themselves in because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

More than 60 per cent of jets parked in the pandemic

Aircraft boneyards, or graveyards, are sprawling outdoor storage spaces where jets are typically sent when they retire.

Airlines have to pay a monthly fee to park vehicles at these sites, but the price is a lot less than what it would cost to park jets at an airport. Since the onset of the pandemic, boneyards around the globe have seen a sharp upturn in the influx of jets.

According to Cirium, a UK aviation data and analytics company, peak numbers of aircraft storage were recorded last March. At the time, the London company estimated an inactive inventory of under 17,000 wide-bodies, narrow-bodies and regional jets in storage. That's equivalent to more than 60 per cent of the world's fleet.

The International Air Transport Association (Iata) also confirmed that the pandemic is set to see more commercial aircraft finish their working life earlier than they would have pre-Covid.

"The Covid-19 crisis will undoubtedly accelerate many of these retirements, and several operators have already announced they are bringing forward fleet retirement programmes," stated the association in a recent report.

The 'Queen of the Skies' lies in the desert

So where are airlines sending their unwanted fleets? For British Airways, which announced that it was retiring its Boeing 747 fleet last year, the Mojave Desert in the US has been its resting place of choice. Inside the Southern California Logistics Airport, also known as Victorville, is about 240 acres of land reserved for aircraft storage with the ability to accommodate more than 500 jets.

The world's largest operator of the "Queen of the Skies" had 31 of the 70-metre-long, four-engine aircraft, the majority of which have been sent to to early retirement in California.

In Australia, Qantas has been making heavy use of aircraft boneyards after grounding much of its fleet during the pandemic. The Australian national airline also retired its Boeing 747 fleet to the Mojave Desert, with the last of its jumbos departing Sydney in July last year, headed for California.

The airline has also sent 10 of its 12 A380 superjumbos for deep storage at the Victorville boneyard. Ranging in age from 10 to 13 years, Qantas's jumbos could have more than a decade of flying left in them. They have currently been "mothballed", rather than retired, meaning that there are plans to return the jets to service when demand for travel picks up again.

What are aircraft boneyards?

For now, unwanted aircraft are simply taking up space. Thankfully, in Mojave, there's plenty of space to go around.

Dry weather in the desert works in the favour of airlines when it comes to storing their expensive jets. The arid climate means that precipitation can be as low as five inches year-round, and soaring daily temperatures can also help protect aircraft from rust.

UK company eCube Solutions is the operator of a sprawling boneyard in Wales, where there is parking for up to 40 jets. It also has a second storage facility in Spain. Specialising in disassembly services for aircraft owners, eCube has taken apart more than 250 aircraft over its nine years of operations, including two Etihad A319s, six Gulf Air A330s and a Qatar Airways A319.

Once an aircraft arrives at a storage facility, it's only the start of the cycle. What happens there dictates each aircraft's future, with options for resale, scrapping for parts or long-term storage for those that may be used again.

"Pre-Covid-19, aircraft would typically arrive at eCube with the airframe sale agreed between the owner and the specialist parts aftermarket company, requiring a parking period of a couple of weeks awaiting a disassembly slot," says Steven Taylor, commercial director at eCube Solutions.

"The unforeseen and unprecedented advent of Covid-19 heralded an urgent requirement for airlines and aircraft owners to park more than 70 per cent of the world's fleet to cater for the sudden demise in passenger demand."

Iata says the average retirement age of a passenger aircraft is 25 years. As many of the jets currently taking up space in the world's boneyards are a lot younger than 25, they need to be carefully stored and maintained in the hope of retaining their value if and when they take to the skies again.

The path of the pandemic is likely to dictate what tomorrow brings for many of these parked jets.

"If there is a likelihood of parked multimillion-dollar assets returning to service, the aircraft needs to be kept in a [European Aviation Safety Agency] Part 145-approved maintenance storage programme," explains Taylor.

This certification is renewed every two years by EASA to certify that storage facilities meet the necessary requirements for long-term aircraft and part storage.

Singapore Airlines, another popular passenger airline, has also turned to storage solutions to navigate the pandemic. It has parked more than a dozen of its jets at the Alice Springs boneyard.

Located in Australia's Northern Territory, the Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage facility was the first large-scale boneyard to open outside the US. The number of planes housed at the facility has increased in the last year, and there are now four A380s grounded there, marking the first time the Airbus superjumbo has landed in Alice Springs.

Will stored jets ever return to the sky?

What the future holds for travel will impact what becomes of the world's currently unwanted jets. If air travel remains low for a considerable number of years, then airlines may find that demand for parking facilities increases, and operators could find themselves scrambling for space.

Should travel demand pick up, some of the jets that were retired or stored last year could see an increase in value as a source for much-needed parts.

Other jets may go on to a new type of life altogether, following in the path of aircraft such as this former Boeing 747 that was sunk to the bottom of the ocean in Bahrain last year, or this ex-Etihad Airbus that is now a glamping spot in the Welsh countryside.

At a time when so much of the world is in recession and industries are scrapping to survive, aircraft boneyards, through storage or scrapping, appear to be facing a buoyant future.