There are dozens of prominent boneyards around the world where, in some cases, thousands of aircraft are kept, whether to be broken up or left in storage before returning to service.

Ideally, an Aircraft Boneyard will have favorable climate conditions that slow down the rate of weathering experienced by each airframe. Space is also a vital factor, as the world’s largest boneyards are large enough to accommodate thousands of aircraft at any one time. So what are the world’s biggest aircraft boneyards? This list will rank the world’s aircraft boneyards according to their aircraft capacity.

10

Twente Airport

Up to 80 aircraft.

Twente Airport (ENS) has a sizable capacity for long-term aircraft storage. The airport demonstrated its importance during the COVID pandemic as a storage facility for commercial aircraft grounded by the situation. Most notably, Lufthansa stored and maintained a number of its Boeing 747 aircraft at Twente, with up to six 747 airframes stored at the airport at any one time.

With a history stretching back almost a century, Twente Airport became a dual civil and military airport after World War II but would end up closing to all operations almost two decades ago.

The facility is home to Dutch company Aircraft End-of-Life Solutions (AELS), which is responsible for aircraft disassembly and parts supply. According to the company, it « buys end-of-life aircraft, which our highly skilled mechanics carefully disassemble. The removed parts are then placed in inventory, recertified and returned to the market. » So far, AELS has scrapped and recycled over 75 aircraft at Twente Airport, partnering with airlines like KLM and Air France.

9

Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport (France)

Over 100 aircraft, leading recycling facility.

Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport maintains an important position in the global aircraft recycling chain with storage capacity for over 100 aircraft. Interestingly, the airport still welcomes scheduled commercial flights, but is better known for its boneyard.

However, with almost half a million commercial passengers walking through its doors every year, it also has decent connections across Europe with Ryanair and Volotea. This includes year-round services from Dublin, London, Paris and Rome, as well as seasonal connections to the likes of Krakow and Naples.

French company TARMAC Aerosave oversees the site’s extensive aircraft maintenance and recycling duties. The company is a joint venture between Airbus, Safran and Suez, and also maintains similar facilities at Toulouse and Spain’s Teruel Airport. In all, the company has recycled over 300 aircraft across its facilities.

8

Alice Springs Airport

Up to 200 aircraft, biggest in Asia-Pacific.

Located in the dry Northern Territory of Australia, Alice Springs Airport is home to the Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage (APAS) facility, which can accommodate up to 200 aircraft. It is one of the largest aircraft boneyards outside the United States – aided by low humidity and rainfall, it is an ideal climate to keep aircraft in long-term storage.

The site has proven a crucial asset to airlines in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly during the COVID pandemic when storage space was at a premium. Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines stored dozens of planes here (including the Airbus A380 for the latter),

The airport also has an established domestic network of commercial flights, with airlines including Airnorth, Qantas, and Virgin Australia connecting Alice Springs to major airports in the country. ASP has actually gotten less busy as a commercial airport over the decades—since reaching highs of around 900,000 annual passengers in the early 1990s, it now handles around half a million passengers each year.

7

Kingman Airport

About 250 aircraft, former military surplus storage.

Kingman Airport occupies a site of around 4,000 acres and has approximate storage space for up to 250 aircraft. Once again located in an arid climate, the Arizona facility grew to prominence after World War II when it housed thousands of surplus military aircraft, then known as « Depot No. 41. »

Nowadays, there remain scores of former commercial aircraft at the likes of American Eagle and DHL gathering dust at the airport’s boneyard. The facility is certified for maintenance and recycling work, reclaiming many of the vital parts from aging aircraft to reintroduce into the supply chain.

6

Teruel Airport (Spain)

Up to 250 aircraft, A380 recycling.

Teruel Airport is Europe’s largest boneyard and was responsible for storing over 100 planes during the COVID pandemic. It does not handle any scheduled commercial flights but plays an important role in the global aircraft recycling business as a base for TARMAC Aerosace.

This includes having the capability to scrap A380s, with TARMAC Aerosave scrapping its first A380 in October 2022. The company recently opened its second dedicated A380 hangar at Teruel, which can accommodate one A380 or four narrowbody jets.

5

Pinal County Airpark

Over 400 aircraft, 1,508 acres.

Pinal County Airpark is another boneyard located in Arizona with origins as a World War II air base. With a 6,850-ft runway, the airport is now one of the biggest maintenance and storage facilities in the world.

Marana Aerospace Solutions began managing the airpark in 2012 and says the site is « the world’s largest commercial aircraft MRO and storage facility. » The airpark is open to public visits, although the planes themselves can only be viewed on the occasional tour.

4

Southern California Logistics Airport

Up to 500 aircraft, 2,300 acres.

Southern California Logistics Airport, also known as Victorville Airport, is located in California and was known as George Air Force Base for over half a century before growing into a major aircraft boneyard.

The airport has housed a few A380s and Boeing 747s over the years and has an estimated capacity for around 500 aircraft at a storage area operated by ComAv Technical Services. There are other companies with a presence at the site too, including Boeing, General Atomics and General Electric, performing various testing and development services.

3

Mojave Air & Space Port

Over 1,000 aircraft.

Mojave Air & Space Port is best known in the public eye for its space industry history, but it is also the location of one of the biggest aircraft maintenance and storage facilities in the world.

The site is also used for extensive flight testing and development, with more than 60 companies setting up shop there. Plenty of A380s spent time on the ground at Mojave during the pandemic, including those operated by Australian carrier Qantas and China Southern Airlines.

2

Roswell International Air Center

Over 1,000 aircraft and 5,000 acres.

Roswell International Air Center is located in New Mexico, and its name might sound familiar as the location of the infamous 1947 Roswell UFO incident. Having already contained scores of retired commercial jets, Roswell International Air Center reportedly had around 400 commercial aircraft during the pandemic and remains an important center of industry and innovation.

According to Airplane Boneyards,

« At any given time, up to 300 jetliners may be stored or being reworked at Roswell. Airlines which utilize RIAC include American Airlines, United, UPS, Air Canada, Scoot, Polar Air Cargo, Hawaiian Airlines, and many others. »

Interestingly, the site does have a scheduled commercial connection, with American Eagle flying a shuttle service to Dallas/Fort Worth.

1

Davis-Monthan United States Air Force Base

Over 3,000 aircraft and 10,000 acres

Widely considered the largest aircraft boneyard in the world is Davis-Monthan United States Air Force Base (AFB), located near Tucson, Arizona. Here is where you’ll find the Air Force Materiel Command 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (309 AMARG), which is responsible for overseeing thousands of old or surplus military aircraft.

There are around 3,200 planes and over 6,000 engines stored at Davis-Monthan. According to USAF,

« The location was selected both because of its dry climate which helps to preclude corrosion, and because of the very hard “caliche” sub-soil which was then, and remains capable of supporting the weight of the largest aircraft (without the need to cover the desert with concrete or tarmac). »

The local climate receives less than 11 inches of rainfall per year, helping to prolong the shelf life of stored aircraft. Interestingly, the facility came about in the aftermath of World War II, when the US had a huge inventory of military aircraft due to its massive industrial war efforts, but now needed a place to store them.

While aircraft are sent here with long-term storage in mind, the facility is alert to US military needs and has assisted in rapidly re-activating old aircraft when required. For example, AMARG was recently ordered to withdraw 13 stored MI-17 helicopters and ready them as military aid to Ukraine, a task it was able to accomplish in just three days. The facility is also busy reclaiming parts, successfully extracting up to 6,000 parts each year.