An aircraft boneyard or aircraft graveyard is a storage area for
aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...
that are retired from service. Most aircraft at boneyards are either kept for storage with
some maintenance or have their parts removed for reuse or resale and are then
scrapped
Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...
. Boneyard facilities are generally located in
deserts
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...
, such as those in the
Southwestern United States, since the dry conditions reduce
corrosion
Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engi ...
and the hard ground does not need to be paved.
In some cases, aircraft that were planned to be scrapped or were stored indefinitely without plans of ever returning to service were brought back into service, as the aviation market or the demands of
military aviation changed or failed to develop as anticipated.
Military aircraft
The
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Tucson
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, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
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Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
, the largest facility of its kind, is colloquially known as "The Boneyard".
Commercial aircraft
Due to the
impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on aviation
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the airline industry due to travel restrictions and a decimation in demand among travelers.
Significant reductions in passenger numbers have resulted in flights being cancelled or planes ...
, demand for commercial aircraft storage increased dramatically in 2020. Furthermore, many aircraft that had initially been planned for short term storage were ultimately stored long term or even scrapped altogether, requiring maintenance work to prepare the planes for the different plans. As demand recovery behaved differently from expectations, temporary shortages as well as the requirement to prepare planes for long term storage after a few months of short term storage caused issues. Planes that have been stored for a few months cannot be brought back to service on short notice. The longer planes are stored, the more time it takes to get them fully
airworthy
In aviation, airworthiness is the measure of an aircraft's suitability for safe flight. Initial airworthiness is demonstrated by a certificate of airworthiness issued by the civil aviation authority in the state in which the aircraft is registe ...
and ready to fly again. Bringing a
narrowbody aircraft
A narrow-body aircraft or single-aisle aircraft is an airliner arranged along a single aisle, permitting up to 6-abreast seating in a cabin less than in width.
In contrast, a wide-body aircraft is a larger airliner usually configured with mu ...
back from long term storage takes roughly 40
worker hours while for
widebody aircraft
A wide-body aircraft, also known as a twin-aisle aircraft, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is . In the typical wide-body economy c ...
the number is roughly 100 worker hours.
Notable aircraft boneyards
See also
*
Aircraft recycling
Aircraft recycling is the process of scrapping and disassembling retired aircraft, and re-purposing their parts as spare parts or scrap. Airplanes are made of around 800 to 1000 parts that can be recycled, with the majority of them made from me ...
*
Ship graveyard
A ship graveyard or ship cemetery is a location where the hulls of scrapped ships are left to decay and disintegrate, or left in reserve. Such a practice is now less common due to waste regulations and so some dry docks where ships are brok ...
*
Spacecraft cemetery
The spacecraft cemetery, known more formally as the South Pacific Ocean(ic) Uninhabited Area, is a region in the southern Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand, where spacecraft that have reached the end of their usefulness are routinely crashed. Th ...
*
Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport
Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport (french: Aéroport Tarbes Lourdes Pyrénées; ) is an airport 9 km south-southwest of Tarbes in the Hautes-Pyrénées ''département'' of France.
Operations
It handles scheduled and charter flights fr ...
and
Châteauroux-Centre "Marcel Dassault" Airport are also airports with an aircraft boneyard
*
PAMELA Project
The Process for Advanced Management of End-of-Life Aircraft (PAMELA) Project, initiated in 2006, is an enterprise set up by Airbus at Tarbes Airport in Southern France, with the aim of recycling aircraft parts. The project was initially supporte ...
*
Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association
The Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association (AFRA) is an international non-profit association that brings together manufacturers, recycling companies, and aviation tech companies across the aircraft industry. Its aim is to promote environmental best ...
References
External links
Map of Aircraft Boneyardsaround the world.
{{Vehicle graveyard
Vehicle graveyards