Aircraft graveyard

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

An aircraft graveyard or aircraft boneyard is a storage area for aircraft which are retired from service. Most aircraft at boneyards are either kept for storage continuing to receive some maintenance or parts of the aircraft are removed for reuse or resale and the aircraft are 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. In some cases, aircraft which were planned to be scrapped or were stored indefinitely without plans of ever returning to service were brought back into service, as the aviation market or the demands of military aviation changed or failed to develop as was anticipated.

Some yards are privately owned and operated, others belong to the military, including the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona.

After aircraft are put into boneyards, many are stripped of useful parts. Engines, as well as most electronics, munitions, and wiring to be removed, are recycled or kept in warehouses. The parts may serve as replacement parts for aircraft which are still flying or they may be used for reconditioning if and when the aircraft are called back into active duty. The parts along with the stripped aircraft may be sold to other countries.

Depending on the demands of the military or for commercial purposes, an aircraft or a whole squadron of the aircraft may be put back into active duty. The aircraft have to be reconditioned and tested so they will be airworthy. The reconditioning process includes putting in new avionics, electronics, safety measures, testing, and painting. Reconditioning of old aircraft is generally a cheaper way of getting more aircraft into service than buying new ones.

Military aircraft

The 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group in Tucson, the largest facility of its kind, is colloquially known as "The Boneyard". Other nations' central aircraft storage facilities include the Russian Air Forces' Bases for Reserve Helicopters.

Commercial aircraft

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on commercial air transport, demand for commercial aircraft storage increased dramatically in 2020. Furthermore, many aircraft which had initially been planned for short-term storage were ultimately stored long term or even scrapped altogether, requiring maintenance work to prepare the planes for the different plans. As demand recovery behaved differently from expectations, temporary shortages as well as the requirement to prepare planes for long-term storage after a few months of short-term storage caused issues. Planes that have been stored for a few months can not be brought back to service on short notice. The longer planes are stored, the more time it takes to get them fully airworthy and ready to fly again. Bringing a narrowbody aircraft back from long-term storage takes roughly 40 worker hours while widebody aircraft require roughly 100 worker hours.

Notable aircraft boneyards

LocationCountryNotes
Alice Springs, Northern Territory Australia First large-scale aircraft boneyard outside the United States.
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada Contains 23 old Fokker F-28 Fellowships of Canadian Regional Airlines and Air Canada Jazz. Planes stored off service roads north of 09/27.
Mountainview, Ontario Canada Used primarily for storage of older RCAF Aircraft.
Manas International, Chüy Region Kyrgyzstan Soviet era aircraft began to appear after 1991.
Enschede Airport Twente Netherlands
Teruel, Aragon Spain
Ciudad Real International Airport, Ciudad Real Spain Used as a long-term aircraft storage site.
Lleida–Alguaire Airport, Lleida Spain
Tarbes, Hautes-Pyrénées France Major European hub for aircraft storage and recycling operated by Tarmac Aerosave [fr], world-renowned for storing and dismantling a significant portion of the global Airbus A380 fleet.
Châteauroux-Centre "Marcel Dassault" Airport, Déols France Long-term aircraft storage for mostly Airbus aircraft.
St. Athan, Wales United Kingdom St. Athan Airfield, located near Barry in South Wales, is a major facility for the dismantling and recycling of retired commercial aircraft, operated by eCube Solutions.
Cotswold Airport (formerly Kemble Airfield), Gloucestershire United Kingdom Air Salvage International, the leading European aircraft decommissioning company.
RAF Shawbury, Shropshire United Kingdom From end of World War II to 1972.
Querétaro Intercontinental Airport, Querétaro Mexico Storage site for MD-80 series aircraft and more.
Toluca International Airport, Toluca Mexico Dozens of retired Interjet Yakovlev SJ-100s stored here.
Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona United States Nearly 4,400 aircraft on 2,600-acre, 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group.
Tucson International Airport, Arizona United States Storage for Bombardier CRJ series aircraft.
Coolidge Municipal Airport, Arizona United States
Kingman Field, Arizona United States Storage and repair for Delta, American and United.
Pinal Airpark, Arizona United States
Miami–Opa Locka Executive Airport, Florida United States
Blytheville, Arkansas United States Storage and scrapping for retired aircraft including the MD-80 series aircraft.
San Bernardino, California United States Short-term aircraft storage and scrapping operations mainly for Delta Air Lines.
Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport, Alabama United States Major aircraft storage site during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Mojave Air and Space, California United States More than 100 planes.
California City Municipal Airport, California United States Many retired private jets stored here.
Victorville, California United States
Oscoda-Wurtsmith, Michigan United States Storage for Kalitta Air and other airlines.
Greenwood-Leflore Airport, Mississippi United States Storage, modification and scrapping for retired aircraft.
Tupelo, Mississippi United States Storage, modification and scrapping for retired aircraft.
Roswell, New Mexico United States Several large passenger and cargo jets.
Laurinburg-Maxton, North Carolina United States Charlotte Aircraft Corporation strips former Northwest Airlines aircraft.
Madras Municipal Airport, Oregon United States Former Delta Air Lines MD-88s stored here as well as retired Douglas DC-7 Aerial firefighting aircraft.
Bob Sikes Airport, Florida United States Short-term storage operations.
Jenkins Airport, Delaware United States Tons of abandoned General Aviation aircraft.
Griffiss International Airport (Former), New York United States Retired Boeing 747 aircraft stored here.
Abilene Regional (Former), Texas United States Many retired Saab 340s mostly from Envoy Air-American Eagle.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 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. ↑ Calder, Simon (4 October 2021). "British Airways to bring back the A380 'SuperJumbo' jet". MSN. The Independent. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022.
  4. ↑ Cohen, Zachary (13 July 2016). "Desperate for planes, military turns to the 'boneyard'". CNN.
  5. ↑ "The US Air Force just resurrected a 60-year-old B-52 bomber from its 'boneyard' to fight another day". Business Insider.
  6. ↑ Jonga, Michael (2 August 2021). "Aircraft reactivation: Has how we store aircraft changed?". AeroTime.
  7. ↑ Scott, Katy (23 December 2020). "How to bring an airplane out of hibernation". CNN.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Aircraft Boneyards & Storage Facilities Around the World". AirplaneBoneyards.com. Archived from the original on 25 November 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  9. ↑ "Australia gets first plane 'boneyard' outside US". Traveller. 27 May 2011. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  10. ↑ "Photos: Airplane graveyard". 9 August 2013. Archived from the original on 8 May 2017.
  11. ↑ Herman Haverkate (26 October 2020). "Stalemate around Twente Airport: Boeings must go, but are not allowed to go". Tubantia (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. ↑ "St. Athan Airfield". www.airplaneboneyards.com. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
  14. ↑ "Jet cemetery: Where do aircraft go when airlines go to the wall?". The Independent. 10 December 2009. Archived from the original on 2017-06-18.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ "Coolidge Airport Boneyard in Arizona". www.airplaneboneyards.com. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
  17. ↑ "Kingman Airport carries right conditions for storing, repairing planes". ABC. Associated Press. 18 August 2013. Archived from the original on 2 April 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  18. ↑ "Pinal Airpark: Once-secretive aircraft boneyard slowly opens its gates". Azcentral.com. 2015-03-27. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
  19. ↑ 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.
  20. ↑ "Roswell International Air Center (ROW) in New Mexico". AirplaneBoneyards.com. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  21. ↑ 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.
  22. ↑ "Airplane Boneyard at Bob Sikes Airport in Florida". airplaneboneyards.com. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
  23. ↑ "County files suit in hopes of acquiring abandoned planes". romesentinel.com. 1 June 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
  24. ↑ "Old planes removed from Abilene Regional Airport". BigCountryHomepage.com. 6 February 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  25. ↑ "Airports, Bases, Airplane Storage & Boneyards near Abilene Texas". Planes of the Past. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.