Gallery: Stored Aircraft An ‘Eerie’ Sight Over Alice Springs
July 08, 2021Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage (APAS) is the world’s newest aircraft storage area that provides short-, medium- and long-term storage. APAS began operations at Australian regional airport Alice Springs in June 2014.
Located in the Northern Territory, Australia, the storage facility is based in a dry, arid environment ideally suited for the storage and preservation of aircraft. Operating from a 100Ha site within the Alice Springs Airport complex, which occupies 3,550 hectares (8,772 acres), the facility has almost unlimited expansion capabilities.
As a result of COVID-19, the facilities have rapidly increased in size, with the expansion assisted by the Northern territory government. Today the “Red Centre of Australia” is home to more than 130 aircraft, ranging from Airbus A380s to ATR 72s.
As ATW-Aviation Week photographer Rob Finlayson flew over the facility in a helicopter recently, he described seeing so many stowed aircraft as an “eerie sight.”
Some may never fly again, but hopefully for the majority a return to service is just over the horizon!