The largest aircraft graveyard in Europe: Teruel Airport

Well over 100 machines from companies from all over the world are parked there, some of them will probably never take off again. / The largest aircraft graveyard in Europe: Teruel Airport

However, the airport has given the region an unexpected boom. And now one even hopes for a really big project.

Only 15 kilometers away from the Spanish city of Teruel is one of the most unusual airports in Europe. In most cases, machines only come here to land. And then sometimes never take off again. In the middle of nowhere near Aragon’s provincial capital, on the site of the Plataforma Aeroportuaria de Teruel, PLATA for short, is what is now Europe’s largest aircraft graveyard. Thanks to the special airport, the entire region is now booming, one of the most sparsely populated in all of Spain. And that has mainly to do with a crisis that has been shaking the world since spring 2020.

We are of course talking about the corona pandemic, which broke out at the time and has been keeping Europe and all other continents in suspense ever since. As is well known, since the outbreak of the global wave of diseases, there has been much less demand for flights, especially long-haul routes. As a result, airlines around the world were looking for a place where they could “temporarily store” their machines, which are very expensive to maintain, for an indefinite period of time. They found him in PLATA, which opened in 2013. Since then, around 130 jets from all over the world have been awaiting an uncertain fate in the aircraft graveyard.

10 percent of all aircraft here are scrapped

According to “aerotelegraph”, aircraft from airlines such as Lufthansa, British Airways, Air France, Austrian Airways, Alitalia and Iberia can be found here. But also those from China, from lines like Lucky Air, Hainan Airlines and China Eastern. The desert-like landscape around Teruel is ideal as an airplane graveyard, because the climate here is almost always dry and there are more than 240 days of sun a year. These circumstances prevent the aircraft from rusting prematurely. Because not all of them finally end their existence in the unusual airport parking lot.

However, if a plane is finally to be scrapped, this can also be done on the grounds of the aircraft graveyard. The French company Tarmac Aerosave takes care of all aspects, from storage and maintenance to “recycling”. According to Deutsche Welle, most machines are serviced here by Tarmac about once a week so that the wheels and engines remain airworthy. Currently, only around 10 percent of the machines that land on the PLATA are finally “taken out of service”. When and if the others will be used again is currently still largely uncertain. Around two dozen Airbus A380s alone, true giants of the sky, are currently parked here.

Upswing for the entire region

But while many of the planes may end up in Teruel, the plane graveyard has given the region an unexpected and much-welcomed boost. Many of the local businesses have adapted to the still growing business on the PLATA. The University of Teruel has been offering summer courses on aviation since 2014. Since 2017 it has also been possible to train as an aviation mechanic at one of the local vocational schools.

And the airport is also booming thanks to its airplane graveyard. In the coming years, the plan is to massively expand the infrastructure here. Europe’s largest jet parking lot currently offers space for 140 large aircraft and a further 250 smaller aircraft, and in future up to 400 long-haul aircraft will be able to be stored here. New hangars are currently under construction. The number of employees, around 400 as of September 2021, is expected to double as a result. One wants to invest 25 million euros in the coming years, said an airport spokesman to “aerotelegraph”.

New Hope

But Teruel has had much bigger visions for a long time. Europe’s largest aircraft graveyard is all well and good, but most of all you want to reach for the stars here. And that is meant literally, because in 2013 the PLATA received a very special honor. The airport was voted the most suitable airport in Europe for launches into space by the French university Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile ENAC. Only recently did the Spanish space agency take a public interest in the location.

And there is hope again for numerous machines in Europe’s largest aircraft graveyard. Lufthansa alone has already brought several of its A340 and A380 jets back to the Frankfurt am Main site this year. But at the airport in Teruel, you don’t have to worry about that. According to Deutsche Welle, 15,000 aircraft will be finally scrapped in the next 20 years because they will then have reached their retirement age. So the future looks bright for Europe’s most unusual airport, and also for the people of an entire region.

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