Aircraft boneyard

Boeing B-52s in storage or awaiting dismantlement at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group in Arizona, United States.

An aircraft boneyard (American English) or aircraft graveyard (British English) is a storage area for aircraft that are retired from service. Most aircraft at boneyards are either kept for storage or have their parts removed for reuse or resale and are then scrapped. Boneyard facilities are generally located in deserts, such as those in the Southwestern United States, since the dry conditions reduce corrosion and the hard ground does not need to be paved.[1][2] The 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group in Tucson, Arizona, the largest facility of its kind, is colloquially known as "The Boneyard".[1]

Notable aircraft boneyards

Airport City Notes
Abilene Regional AirportAbilene, Texas (US)Contains many retired Saab 340 aircraft, primarily from American Eagle Airlines.[3]
Alice Springs Airport[4]Alice Springs, Northern Territory (Australia)The first large-scale aircraft boneyard outside the United States.[5]
Cotswold AirportKemble, Gloucestershire (United Kingdom)Home of Air Salvage International (ASI),[6] who are described as Europe's leading aircraft decommissioning company.[7]
Davis-Monthan AFBTucson, Arizona (US)Home of the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, the 2,600-acre site contains nearly 4,400 aircraft.[1]
Kingman AirportKingman, Arizona (US)Leases space to major carriers such as Delta, American and United and operates as an "active storage facility" offering both storage and repair services.[8]
Laurinburg-Maxton AirportMaxton, North Carolina (US)Contains various former Northwest Airlines aircraft being stripped for parts by Charlotte Aircraft Corporation[9]
Mojave Air and Space PortMojave, California (US)Home to more than 1,000 commercial airliners.[1]
Manas International AirportBishkek (Kyrgyzstan)Soviet era aircraft began to appear after 1991.[4]
Oscoda-Wurtsmith AirportOscoda, Michigan (US)Serves as storage for Kalitta Air and several other airlines.
Phoenix Goodyear Airport[10]Goodyear, Arizona (US)
Pinal Airpark[11]Marana, Arizona (US)
RAF Shawbury[12]Shrewsbury, Shropshire (United Kingdom)From end of World War II to 1972.
Roswell International Air CenterRoswell, New Mexico (US)Contains the remains of several large passenger and cargo jets[13]
Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International AirportSaskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada)Contains 23 old Fokker F-28 operated by Canadian Regional Airlines and Air Canada Jazz[4][14]
Southern California Logistics Airport[15]Victorville, California (US)
Teruel Airport[16]Teruel, Aragon (Spain)

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Stephen Dowling (18 September 2014). "Secrets of the Desert Aircraft Boneyards". BBC. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  2. ↑ John A. Weeks III (2009-07-03). "Field Guide To Aircraft Boneyards". Archived from the original on 2009-11-24. Retrieved 2014-11-06.
  3. ↑ "Airports, Bases, Airplane Storage & Boneyards near Abilene Texas". Planes of the Past. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "Aircraft Boneyards & Storage Facilities Around the World". AirplaneBoneyards.com. Archived from the original on 25 November 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "Australia gets first plane 'boneyard' outside US". Traveller. 27 May 2011. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  6. ↑ i3m.co.uk. "Aircraft salvage, recovery and disposal services – Air Salvage International". airsalvage.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2018-03-08.
  7. ↑ "Jet cemetery: Where do aircraft go when airlines go to the wall?". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2017-06-18.
  8. ↑ Associated Press (18 August 2013). "Kingman Airport carries right conditions for storing, repairing planes". ABC. Archived from the original on 2 April 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  9. ↑ Andrew Vane (27 February 2014). "The Boneyard of the East - My Retro Planespotting Experience". AirlineReporter. Archived from the original on 8 January 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  10. ↑ "Phoenix Goodyear Airport (GYR) in Arizona". AirplaneBoneyards.com. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  11. ↑ "Pinal Airpark: Once-secretive aircraft boneyard slowly opens its gates". Azcentral.com. 2015-03-27. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
  12. ↑ Tom Moran (26 June 2014). "Withdrawn Blackburn Buccaneers Torn Apart at RAF Shawbury". Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  13. ↑ "Roswell International Air Center (ROW) in New Mexico". AirplaneBoneyards.com. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  14. ↑ "Photos: Airplane graveyard". 9 August 2013. Archived from the original on 8 May 2017.
  15. ↑ Pae, Peter (15 March 2009). "As travel declines, aircraft 'boneyard' in Victorville fills up". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 11 March 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  16. ↑ Brunat, David. "El 'aeropuerto milagro' de Teruel: el parquin de aviones más grande de Europa" (in Spanish). El Confidencial. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.

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