Planes mainly on the plain

It is one of the world’s most unusual parking lots.

Aircraft emblazoned with Jetstar, Singapore Airlines and Scoot logos on their tails join the 50 Cathay Pacific planes that I count on the ground at Alice Springs.

There’s Cathay Dragon, with their red insignia, Cebu, Nok, DragonAir and HK Express.

For this is the Asia Pacific Airline Storage facility, which has been bursting at the seams through the airline industry’s pandemic shutdown.

Central Australia’s is dry and arid with low humidity — and that’s viewed by aircraft manufacturers and airlines owners as ideal for storing planes. Desert conditions make it easier to protect against corrosion.

But the planes aren’t just locked and left on this 100 hectares lot. APAS puts them through a carefully planned maintenance schedule.

Last months, there were 259.4m airline seats available globally — 27 per cent more than February. Worldwide capacity is growing by just over a million seats a month.