As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to thrive, many airlines are having too many empty seats. Most of these airlines are sending their aircraft, particularly their larger capacity aircraft, into long-term storage. Singapore Airlines has flown four of its Airbus A380s to Alice Springs, Australia.
Each flight departed approximately one hour after the other using the following aircraft:
SQ8865 – 9V-SKT
SQ8866 – 9V-SKW
SQ8867 – 9V-SKY
SQ8868 – 9V-SKZ
The total flight time for each aircraft between Singapore Changi (SIN) and Alice Springs Airport (ASP) was a little over five hours, with the aircraft ages ranging between just three and eight years.
Situated right in the middle of the Australian outback, Alice Springs is the ideal location for aircraft storage in Australia. This is due to its consistently hot and dry weather conditions with low very little rain, extremely rare storms, and low humidity, which is the main concern as moisture in the air can cause corrosion for certain aircraft components.
While ASP and its surrounding region are known to reach some extreme temperatures, the electronics and other components of the aircraft should not be affected. As Australia is currently moving into winter, the aircraft will see less extreme heat for the next few months.
Before the storage of these four A380s, Alice Springs Airport was already accommodating three Singapore Airlines 777-200ERs and two Scoot A320s, as well as all six of SilkAir’s 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which have been hibernating at ASP for over six months.
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