Alice Spring’s new tourist attraction – parked planes

An aircraft storage site at Alice Springs is rapidly turning into a tourist attraction as the number of jets on site soars to 100.

Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage at Alice Springs is preparing to take its 100th plane next week. Picture: Dan Gerich

The rapidly growing aircraft storage site at Alice Springs is stopping travellers in their tracks as the number of planes parked in the Red Centre nears 100.

Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage managing director Tom Vincent said it was not unusual for passers-by to pull over and photograph the sprawling plane parking lot, as more and more jets arrived.

He said they expected to reach 100 planes in storage on October 6, after a huge surge in demand due to the COVID crisis.

There’s about 90 planes parked at Alice Springs airport. Planes started arriving at Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage in April and some flew in as recently as last week. A jarring and rather sad sight. pic.twitter.com/crchxyFGnF

— Megan Dingwall (@PegsontheLine) September 28, 2020

Dozens of aircraft from Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon and Hong Kong Express had recently joined the fleet consisting of everything from A380s to Fokker 100s worth billions of dollars.

As a result APAS was now fast-tracking its stage four expansion which will increase capacity at Alice Springs to between 160 and 200 planes within a matter of weeks.

“I have to admit in the last few months, I’ve been mainly stuck in an office on the phone. I went out on site last week and I did have a double take,” Mr Vincent said.

“The size of the facility, the aircraft, the numbers, the aircraft mix, it’s certainly something to see.”

In addition, APAS had also opened a second storage site at Toowoomba’s Wellcamp Airport.

Mr Vincent said currently one Virgin Australia 737 was parked there with more due to arrive soon.
“We were struggling to accommodate them immediately in Alice, so we’re working with (airport owner) John Wagner,” he said.

“Toowoomba’s humidity is higher than Alice Springs but it’s better than the east coast. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have significantly higher humidity than Toowoomba which doesn’t have the salt issue either.”

With demand continuing particularly from Asian carriers for aircraft storage, Mr Vincent said it was conceivable APAS could be storing up to 300 aircraft.

“I always thought we were going to have 200 aircraft there and it’s probably taken a little longer due to the market in recent years,” he said.

“No-one could’ve expected what happened with the 737 Max which meant a lot of older aircraft were not retired as planned.

“Now it’s changed again, and a lot of the 777s and A330s, and some of the aged narrow bodies may not be needed for some time, if ever.”

Despite the uncertainty over the future of many aircraft, Mr Vincent said he did not see the site at Alice Springs turning into a “boneyard” where planes went simply to be parted out.

“We don’t park aircraft and leave them and do nothing. They’re being worked on all the time to maintain their airworthiness.”

The stage four expansion would increase the site to 350,000 sqm, with considerable extra space available in Toowoomba.

“(The Wagners) built the airport in 19 months so putting in some additional hardstand for aircraft storage doesn’t aze them at all,” said Mr Vincent.