Air NZ jets in images of plane graveyard
Satellite images featuring grounded Air New Zealand aircraft have provided a glimpse into the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the global aviation sector.
Five Air New Zealand 777s, with their distinctive fern liveries, can be seen in Google Earth images of a plane graveyard in California’s Mojave Desert.
When international air travel came to a near standstill in 2020 as a result of Covid-19 airlines grounded fleets and put planes into long term storage facilities in the dry heat of deserts, where they are less susceptible to corrosion.
In Air New Zealand’s case it sent 15 Boeing 777s to long term storage facilities in New Mexico, California and Auckland.
Last year was the worst on record for the aviation industry due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with full year traffic down around two-thirds on 2019.
And the International Air Transport Association isn’t predicting 2021 will be much better with losses of US$39 billion (NZ$54b) forecast for the global industry over the year.
Satellite images show three
Air NZ 777s parked at Victorville Southern California Logistics Airport surrounded by FedEx planes and a stone’s throw from nine hibernating Qantas Airbus A380s. Two more can be seen closer to the facility’s operations centre.
The high desert facility is the same place Air New Zealand sent its retired Boeing 747-400s in 2014.
Last September, Air New Zealand said the 777s won’t be coming out of storage until September at the earliest. The airline indicated to analysts last year that its 777-200ERs were no longer needed.
If that were the case they could be sold to an air freight company or turned into scrap and sold for parts.
The grounding of its Boeing
777-200ER fleet alone resulted in a
$338 million aircraft impairment charge, the airline said in August.
Frequent flyer Christopher Walsh of Money Hub said he had flown on the 777s numerous times including a 777-200ER flight to Narita, Tokyo, in January, 2020, not long before coronavirus became a global emergency.
He said it was a sad sight to see them parked up in the desert.
‘‘They’re all boxed in there. I think it will be a while before we see them back, if ever.’’
He said a generation of New Zealanders would have grown up travelling on those planes and in an instant they became redundant. ‘‘This is our airline and now it’s on a scrap heap.’’