Lined up neatly nose to tail, a fleet of aircraft belonging to the national carrier are being stored in Australia to keep them in mint condition until air travel can resume.
With the industry in a nose dive due to the COVID-19 pandemic, planes belonging to Singapore Airlines are parked smack in the middle of the country at the Alice Springs Airport, according to photos and videos which have spread online. Four of the national carrier’s Airbus A380 wide-body jets and three of its Boeing airframes are among those resting at an aviation storage facility there. The dry climate make for ideal preservation conditions.
Eleven other aircraft belonging to airlines Scoot and SilkAir are also parked there. All the planes were placed at Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage, said to be the only such storage facility outside of the United States.
“The impact of Covid-19 outbreak has resulted in significantly reduced demand across the aviation industry. As a result, Singapore Airlines has reduced its scheduled capacity by 96%,” the airline told Coconuts Singapore in a statement today.
Only 10 of its 200-strong fleet are currently operating on scheduled passenger services, it said.
It is not clear how long the aircraft will be kept there, according to the airline.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and, when appropriate, will return the aircraft to Singapore ahead of reintroducing them to our operations.”
Alice Springs, which is located in central Australia, is surrounded by vast tracts of desert outback, where daily temperatures average 12C to 27C. Unlike in humid Singapore, where days run 26C to 32C, the Alice Springs’ location helps stave off corrosion of the aircraft’s components.
The arrival of Singapore’s jets was announced by the Alice Springs Airport late last month, which noted it was the first time in its century of history that an A380 landed at the two-runway, regional airport.
“History today as the first of four A380 aircraft lands at Alice Springs Airport to enter storage at the Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage facility (APAS),” its post read.
Other stories you should check out:
MP says woman in viral Shunfu market kerfuffle apprehended ‘on the spot’
102-year-old woman recovers from COVID-19 in Singapore
Tiong Bahru rats living large in Singapore’s circuit-breaker period
Park-goer to be charged with attempted murder of safe-distancing officer
‘Sovereign’ woman to be charged in court for assault, public nuisance, no mask
Reader Interactions