Qantas is set to mothball several Boeing 787 aircraft as the global aviation downturn continues. The Australian flag carrier will send the single deck aircraft to the Mojave Desert to rest alongside its Airbus A380 and its recently retired fleet of the queen of the skies, the jumbo Boeing 747 aircraft. However, the 787 aircraft will go to a different facility slightly further south, Victorville.
Across the world, the aviation industry is showing some signs of recovery. However, the recovery is speeding along much more in some countries than in others. With Australia’s borders mostly closed, Qantas is relatively limited in how much it can recover from the situation.
Sending widebodies to the California desert
Qantas sending widebodies to the Californian desert is nothing new. However, the Boeing 787s due to fly across the Pacific Ocean are the smallest yet. According to the publication Executive Traveller, a large portion of the airline’s Dreamliner fleet will be sent to the Mojave Desert.
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The publication reported a Qantas representative as saying,
“From September, most of the (Boeing 787) fleet will be positioned up to Victorville in the USA. In June we said around 100 of our aircraft would be stored for up to 12 months, some for longer, and our 787 fleet is part of that.”
Joining other Qantas aircraft
While not heading to the same facility, Qantas will store its Boeing 787 Dreamliner in the same vicinity as its mothballed Airbus A380 giants. That is to say, the Mojave Desert.
Earlier in the summer, the Australian flag carrier flew the majority of its Airbus A380 aircraft to the Mojave Air and Spaceport in California. The facility is convenient, as it is a reasonably short drive from the Qantas maintenance base at Los Angeles International Airport. Two Airbus A380 aircraft remain in Dresden, where they underwent cabin refits recently.
Also in the Mojave Desert are several of Qantas’s now-retired Boeing 747 aircraft. The airline decided to pull the plug on the jumbo jet earlier this year due to the current situation. While many were upset at the death of the Queen, Qantas did not let the event go unnoticed. The operator flew several select one-off farewell flights before the final aircraft was retired. On its final journey, the last plane even painted the Qantas logo in the sky with its flight path.
However, no such celebration has been planned for over the Airbus A380 or the Boeing 787. This is for one relatively simple reason. Qantas plans to bring both of the types back into service following the current crisis. How long they will remain on the ground in the Californian desert, however, is anybody’s guess at present.
When do you think Qantas will return the Boeing 7872 service? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!
