CATHAY PACIFIC: Where are their planes stored?

I started my next trip yesterday by heading to Alice Springs from Sydney.

As we taxied our way to the airport terminal, we could see the Alice Springs plane storage facility with an overwhelming quantity of Cathay Pacific planes, plus some Singapore Airlines and a few others whose livery seems familiar, but I can’t quite put my finger on.

Maybe you, dear reader, have better pattern recognition than I do and can identify some of the other airlines. I think they are mainly Asian and Pacific airlines and include Cathay, Singapore, Scoot, Fiji Air and Cebu Pacific – according to a BBC story in 2020. According to that report, the facility has storage for up to around 200 aircraft.

2PAXfly Takeout

The aviation industry has a difficult road ahead when it comes to sustainability. It’s going to require a relative revolution in technology, with ‘electric planes’ or hydrogen planes, or some form of jet engine that doesn’t require a carbon based fuel. And that is going to require the development of an alternative to jet engines probably.

It’s a big ask. It will take time to develop.

This move to home grown and manufactured SAF is a first step – maybe even a baby step in a very long road of innovation. In the long run, US$200 million won’t even touch the sides.

Alice Springs Airport is harbouring a squadron of aircraft capacity across a bunch of airlines. The majority seem to be Cathay Pacific, by far, which doesn’t auger well for the airline. For each plane, how much does storage cost, and what earning potential is the airline losing by having them stored here and not in the air?