Travel

As planes are mothballed in lockdown, what happens to the fleet of retired jumbos?


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LIKE any old codger, when planes reach a certain age they are expected to call it a day.

Retirement time for aircraft is around 25 to 30 flying years, or an average of 150,000 flight hours. Fly planes for any longer and metal fatigue can set in.

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 Have you ever wondered what happens to the hundreds of planes that are retired every year?

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Have you ever wondered what happens to the hundreds of planes that are retired every year?Credit: Getty

Most years 700 planes are put out to pasture, but this year it will be much higher because of the coronavirus as airlines around the world cut their fleets.

The first to go will be older, less fuel-efficient models, such as Boeing 757s, 767s, and Airbus A320s.

Virgin Atlantic has already moved forward the retirement of its Airbus A340-600 fleet, while it is likely we have seen the last ever Qantas Boeing 747s gracing the skies.

But have you ever wondered what happens to these big birds after they have delivered passengers for the very last time?

Desert chop shop

MOST decommissioned aircraft ultimately end up in vast boneyards. There are dozens around the world, often located in deserts as the dry low-humidity atmosphere helps to prevent corrosion.

The largest is the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, located outside of Tucson, Arizona.

 Most decommissioned planes end up in vast boneyards located in dry climates to prevent corrosion

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Most decommissioned planes end up in vast boneyards located in dry climates to prevent corrosionCredit: Alamy

It’s home to more than 4,000 planes, including F-16 fighter jets, helicopters and huge Lockheed C-5 Galaxy transport aircraft.

Some are in storage but most are stripped for parts before being completely broken down into scrap metal, smelted into ingots, and recycled into skateboards and soft drinks cans.

Moving up

NOT every aircraft ends up on the scrapheap. Airlines often sell off older models when they update their fleets.

These planes may still have a few flying years left in them so can be modified into VIP private jets to be sold in the lucrative second-hand airliner market.

 Some get sold off to be modified into VIP private jets, like the one purchased by R&B star Drake

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Some get sold off to be modified into VIP private jets, like the one purchased by R&B star DrakeCredit: Instagram

Celebrity owners of converted commercial jets include Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich (who owns a Boeing 767-33A ER named Bandit) and R&B star Drake (who has a 767-300F named Air Drake).

More like flying palaces, onboard luxuries include sprawling living rooms with leather sofas, multiple suites with double beds and marble bathrooms, and kitchens with gold sinks.

Few, though, have topped Led Zeppelin in the glamour stakes — the band had a functioning fireplace in their private jet “The Starship”.

 However few have topped Led Zeppelin in the glamour stakes - the band had a functioning fireplace in theirs

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However few have topped Led Zeppelin in the glamour stakes – the band had a functioning fireplace in theirsCredit: Scope Features

Blue skies to deep fries

CHICKEN or beef? Ice and a slice? How about Air Nacho Towers piled high with cheese and jalapeños, or Philly Flier beef burgers instead?

That’s what is on the menu at Boeing KC97 Air Force tanker turned diner, The Airplane Restaurant in Colorado Springs.

 Some jets end up being turned into flamboyant restaurants, like the Runway1 restaurant in Delhi

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Some jets end up being turned into flamboyant restaurants, like the Runway1 restaurant in DelhiCredit: Runway1restaurant.com

It’s one of a number of planes which have been repurposed into flamboyant restaurants. Fast food fans can also dine at a McDonald’s in a decommissioned DC-3 in Taupo, New Zealand.

Afterwards you can visit the cockpit and take photos at the controls.

While in Delhi you can pick up a boarding pass for dinner at Runway 1, a former Air India Airbus A310.

Forget the red eye

WHO doesn’t dream of a lie-flat bed on a jumbo jet for less than £100?

At the Jumbo Stay Hotel, located right next to Stockholm’s Arlanda airport, you can bed down in a former Boeing 747-200, which flew for Pan Am, Singapore Airlines and Swedish Airline Transjet.

 Lucky travellers can bed down in a former Boeing 747-200 at the Jumbo Stay Hotel

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Lucky travellers can bed down in a former Boeing 747-200 at the Jumbo Stay HotelCredit: Alamy
 The hotel in Stockholm has 27 rooms and a fancy suite in the cockpit

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The hotel in Stockholm has 27 rooms and a fancy suite in the cockpitCredit: Alamy

Grounded in 2002, it reopened seven years later with 27 rooms and a fancy suite in the cockpit.

Further afield, there’s the Hotel Costa Verde in Costa Rica, which has a 1965 Boeing 727 suspended in the jungle canopy, with two luxurious wood-panelled rooms inside.

Closer to home, you can book a night on Airbnb in The Jet Star, an old nine-seater Lockheed Jetstar permanently parked in Redberth, Pembrokeshire.

You’re dumped

STORING planes in boneyards can be extremely costly.

So for airlines or individuals who have gone belly up, the much cheaper option is to simply abandon their planes. In the suburbs of Bangkok, between high-rise apartment blocks, there is a shell of a Boeing 747-100 with the wings torn off.

 Sometimes retired jets get dumped, like the ones left in the suburbs of Bangkok and near a quarry in Bali

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Sometimes retired jets get dumped, like the ones left in the suburbs of Bangkok and near a quarry in BaliCredit: Getty

How did it get there? No one seems to know but if you slip the gatekeeper £5, she will let you snoop around inside.

In Bali, a rusting Boeing 737 sits abandoned near a limestone quarry.

Or you could seek out the full Indiana Jones experience by trekking into the jungle on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao to find the remains of an Air Aruba flight P4-YSA.

Inside Boeing 727 passenger plane converted into three bedroom home with a huge hot tub and bath in cockpit


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