The Alice transformed into a $3bn aircraft wonderland

As the coronavirus crisis turns *cities into ghost towns with quiet streets and empty skies, one of the country’s most remote places is thriving.

For weeks now there has been a steady stream of gleaming new *arrivals in Alice Springs, from Fokker 100s to A380s, all seeking a temporary home in Australia’s dry and dusty Red Centre. Their destination is Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage set on 100ha at Alice Springs Airport.

Far from being a “plane boneyard” where aircraft are broken up for parts and scrapped, APAS provides around-the-clock maintenance for the jets until their airline or leasing company owners want them back.

Alongside grounded Boeing 737 Max 8s belonging to Silk Air and Fiji Airways sit four Singapore Airlines A380s and three 777s; four Scoot A320s, two NokScoot 777s and three Fokkers from Alliance Airlines. Their combined worth is estimated to be more than $3bn and more planes are on their way, as a result of the global health pandemic that has forced thousands of aircraft out of the sky.

While APAS could be seen as capitalising on the crisis, managing director Tom Vincent said it was not some overnight success story.

“This business I set up 10 years ago. We’ve been quietly working away to gain all the regulatory *approvals to maintain the aircraft and a lot of time and capital that has gone into that,” he said.

“Had we not done that, we wouldn’t have been able to capitalise on the current situation. We’ve always built everything so that we can manage rapid expansion.”

Mr Vincent expects to have a dozen storage roads on the site by the end of June after fast-tracking his planned stage two and three expansions.

The new infrastructure will provide capacity for up to 100 aircraft and, judging by demand, that will be quickly snapped up.

“If you’re in this, you love aviation and it is dreadful to see the industry hurt so much,” Mr Vincent said.

“But we’re here to provide a service and it’s a service that’s valued by our customers and we’re happy to be supporting them.”

Notably absent from the site are hundreds of grounded Qantas and Virgin Australia aircraft that have instead been parked at airports around the country.

The only exception is one Qantas 747, which has been sent to California’s Mojave Desert for what is expected to be an early retirement.

Alice Springs Airport manager Dave Batic said the aircraft storage centre was not only creating additional employment for the area, it was a tourist drawcard.

“Out of every crisis there’s an opportunity, and this is an opportunity not just for Alice Springs and the Northern Territory but Australia itself,” he said.

“This could potentially be the world’s biggest aircraft storage *facility. We’d support that expansion.”

Mr Batic said Alice Springs had the advantage of space, with more than 35 square kilometres of airport land.

“We also have a fully internationally capable airfield and that goes back to the Pine Gap days,” he said.

“We do thank the Americans for requiring a larger runway to fit their military aircraft.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...14w4Gl1RqLqKQw

Shots of ASP parking

https://www.facebook.com/media/set?s...3348622&type=3

More of the same as photo shown in Latest AA

I’ll try to get some pics next Thursday and or Friday. I’m operating the QF858/ QF859.

A few pics of Singapore. Sorry Alice.

It would've looked strange on the approach.

Didn’t have time to look as I was too busy getting back on the bike after over 2 months of not flying.

NZ sending 777s to ASP
 

Hmm we need another taxiway. Kev go get the tractor.....

Interesting to hear on the news yesterday that QF will be moving their A380 fleet to the Mohave desert for storage, as all international flights are being cancelled through October.

Does anyone have any more specifics on timing and whether they are going to MHV or VCV? I'm guessing the Alice Springs storage yard just doesn't have either A) the room for all the A380's or B) enough engineers to help maintain them, or maybe a combination of both.

No Space at ASP.

Plane boneyards: Qantas looking at moving A380s into 'deep storage' in the Californian desert

Qantas is considering moving some of its Airbus A380s into long-term storage in the Californian desert ahead of a possible early retirement for the superjumbos.

The airline is not operating any international passenger flights due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is undergoing a detailed review of how many jets it will need during the years-long recovery from the global health crisis.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said in May that its was pausing refurbishments on its 12 A380s and flagged that it might offload some of the double-decker jets.

The airline is now exploring sending up to six A380s into storage at the aircraft "boneyards" either at Mojave or Victorville, both in California, according to airline sources.

A Qantas spokesman said: “We expect all 12 of our A380s to be in storage for some time as we wait for international travel demand to recover".

Moving the jets into desert storage facilities - which have filled up globally as COVID-19 forced airlines to ground their planes - does not necessary mean they will not return to Qantas' fleet.

However there is a growing expectation that some of the A380s will be retired, along with Qantas' two remaining Boeing 747s which were due to retire at the end of this year.

Jefferies analyst Anthony Moulder told clients this month that along with 747s, " we could also expect six of the A380s that haven't yet been refurbished to also be retired".

The world's largest commercial aircraft, which seats around 550 passengers, is adored by frequent flyers and launched to enormous fanfare 13 years ago. But Airbus announced last year it would cease production of the A380, after airlines moved towards smaller, more efficient jets like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and now Airbus' own A350.

Qantas' A380s are currently in storage at Sydney, Melbourne and Los Angeles airport, with one at an Airbus maintenance hub in Dresden, Germany.

https://www.smh.com.au/business/comp...17-p553de.html