Philippine low-cost airline Cebu Pacific has this week relocated nine of its aircraft to a desert storage facility in Alice Springs, Australia. After being grounded nearly four months ago in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the aircraft have been moved to cut costs resulting from high airport parking fees.
Cebu Pacific optimizes its fleet
As reported by Aviation Updates Philippines on Monday, Cebu Pacific sent seven Airbus 321-211 and two A330-343 airplanes to Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage (APAS) for indefinite storage. The facility is based at Alice Springs Airport in Australia’s Northern Territory. An additional A321neo flew to APAS to ferry the flight crews back to Manila.
Two of the A321s had been parked at Clark International Airport and the rest at Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The aircraft formed a long parade across the South Asian skies as they made their way to the Australian desert location.
The planes had the following registrations: RP-C4111, RP-C4112, RP-C4113, RP-C4114, RP-C4115, RP-C4116, RP-C4117, RP-C3341, RP-C3342. The ferry aircraft was RP-C4123.
According to Planespotters.net, Cebu Pacific currently has 75 strong fleet with an average age of 5.4 years. It consists of 34 Airbus A320s, 13 A321s, 8 A330s, and 20 ATR42/72 aircraft. Only 25 of the fleet are still in service.
At the end of May, it was reported that the airline was seeking sale-and-leaseback arrangements for 17 A320ceo aircraft as a part of its ongoing review of its long-term operations. It will instead move towards the more efficient neo variants.
Alice Springs storage facility
The APAS facility in Alice Springs has 100 hectares of storage and has significant space for future expansion. It claims to offer,
“the perfect environment for the preservation of aircraft and their inherent capital value.”
The arid desert location has an average humidity of around 25% all year round, low rainfall, and low-lying vegetation that helps to suppress dust. The runway is capable of handling any aircraft, and it has rail access which facilitates the transportation of aircraft parts.
Stored aircraft are not forgotten or abandoned. They are sealed and sensitive parts such as the engines are covered. They will also be checked weekly by mechanics and switched on periodically to ensure that they are kept in flight-ready condition.
The Cebu Pacific aircraft at APAS join those of other airlines, including six Singapore Airlines Airbus A380s. With the huge drop in passenger numbers, the superjumbos have become surplus to requirements. The world’s A380s are stored at just 24 airports.
Aircraft graveyards in demand
Since many airlines around the world grounded their fleets because of the pandemic, parking space at airports is at a premium. It can also be very expensive by the time you factor in maintenance and upkeep costs. Because of this, aircraft graveyards are providing a more cost-effective solution.
The Mojave Desert in California offers a huge plane storage facility, which also provides the arid, low humidity climate that is ideal for mothballing aircraft. Teruel in Spain has become the long-term home for the aircraft of many European airlines.
These facilities were more commonly used as the final resting place for planes at the end of their life, which is why they are known as aircraft graveyards.