Aircraft Storage at Alice Springs in Australia
Airplanes have been built in countries around the world for decades. As these planes become outdated or no longer needed, they must be stored in boneyards and eventually disposed of.
Boneyards around the world serve several functions, including temporary storage, maintenance, parts reclamation, and scrapping. Some are small, some are open for a time and then closed. Airplane inventories change. Published reports are often inexact, and we have listed below boneyards that are more significant and well known based on our best research.
Large numbers of surplus aircraft are stored in airplane boneyards in the United States and Europe. In fact, military and airliner boneyards are located around the world, in the United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, Russia ... and Australia.
Alice Springs: The Town
Alice Springs is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia, surrounded by ochre sands and beautiful mountain ranges. Its population in 2018 was about 27,000 residents.
The surrounding region is known as Central Australia, or the Red Centre, an arid environment consisting of various desert areas.
 Welcome to Alice Springs |
Temperatures in Alice Springs vary, with an average maximum in summer of 35.6 °C (96.1 °F) and an average minimum in winter of 5.1 °C (41.2 °F).
The town is an important tourist hub and service centre for the surrounding area. It offers several large hotels, a world-class convention centre, and a varied range of visitor attractions, restaurants, and other services.
Known to locals simply as "Alice", it is a fascinating locale to explore Australia's Aboriginal culture and unique wildlife.
Learn more about Alice Springs at Australia.com and NorthernTerritory.com
Alice Springs Airport
 Alice Springs Airport Terminal |
Alice Springs Airport (IATA: ASP, ICAO: YBAS) is an Australian regional airport 13 km (8.1 mi) south of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The airport terminal is located on Santa Teresa Road.
The airport has two runways, the principal one (12/30) at 2,438m in length and 45m in width.
The only scheduled flights using the airport are domestic, although international charters do use the airport at times. The airport is open 24/7 and there are no restricted flight paths for noise abatement procedures.
For detailed information on the airport, phone +618 8951 1211 or visit the airport's website at www.alicespringsairport.com.au or Alice Springs Airport on Facebook
Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage (APAS)
The world's newest "airliner boneyard" is located at Alice Springs Airport and was completed in 2013; it began operations in June of 2014.
 Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage at Alice Springs Airport in Australia (photo courtesy of APAS) |
The storage facility is operated by Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage (APAS) Ltd. which chose Alice Springs because its dry, arid climate is ideal for aircraft storage and preservation. It caters to Asia-Pacific carriers as well as other airlines from around the world. It is capable of handling all aircraft types, including the Airbus A380, Boeing 747 and Boeing 777.
Stage one of the multi-million dollar facility covers about 10 hectares and includes two access roads, a maintenance shed, a hard-stand area for up to 25 planes and a pad on which parts can be removed or added to aircraft.
APAS represents the first commercial aircraft storage and recycling facility in the Asia Pacific region. The facility was ultimately selected due to its climatic suitability, significant existing infrastructure and capacity for major expansion.
Alice Springs offers the perfect environment for the preservation of aircraft and their inherent capital value. The facility benefits from an arid desert environment characterized by an average year round humidity of approximately 25%, outside Australia’s cyclone zone, low rainfall, and with low lying vegetation providing additional dust suppression qualities.
In addition to aircraft storage, APAS also provides services related to maintenance, part-out and end of life operations.
For detailed information on APAS, phone +617 3171 4570 or visit the website of Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage (APAS)
Aerial view of the Alice Springs Airport and Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage in the Northern Territory of Australia |
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Airliners in storage at Alice Springs Airport in Australia (photo courtesy of APAS) |
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Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage at Alice Springs Airport in Australia (photo courtesy of APAS) |
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Interactive Map of the Alice Springs Airport Area
Map of locations of active and post-WWII airplane boneyards and plane storage facilities in the United States and Around the World
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Where Airliners Go to Die ... and Be Recycled
Need Help Identifying Airliners Stored at Alice Springs?
Identification of different airliner types can be hard, considering the number of aircraft operating daily, and in desert storage in Australia, U.K. and the rest of the world.
Our new airliner spotting website includes visual guides and charts for identifying jet airliners from Boeing and Airbus, as well as Bombardier, Embraer, Antonov and others.
