US airlines including Delta and United are sending their largest planes to a so-called ‘boneyard’ in the desert for storage as they significantly reduce operations due to coronavirus.
Delta Air Lines, among others, are turning to Pinal Airpark some 90 miles south of Phoenix, to keep planes in good condition while they are not in use during the global health crisis.
The ‘boneyard’ is home to hundreds of retired commercial and military aircraft that are stored in the dry desert conditions to prevent them from rusting.
Major airlines have been forced to reduce their services near-on every day in light of President Donald Trump’s travel ban, which was this week extended to include the UK as well as the rest of Europe.
Tail fins of passenger planes, mostly Delta Air Lines planes, sit parked at Pinal Airpark Wednesday, March 18, in Red Rock, Arizona. he Airpark is mainly used as a ‘boneyard’ for commercial planes, and old planes are stored there with the hope that the desert climate will stop them from rusting
A recently landed Delta Air Lines airplane is worked on by ground crew at Pinal Airpark on Wednesday
An aerial view of Pinal Airpark, where many old aircrafts are laid to rest stretched out in the Arizona sun, taken in 2018
The Pinal Airpark is a public-use airport in Pinal County, Arizona, around seven miles from the central business district of Marana.
It covers an area of 2,080 acres and has single runway measuring 6,849 by 150 feet.
Images show recently landed Delta Air Lines jets being towed off a runway at Pinal Airpark in Red Rock.
Tail fins of recently landed Delta Air Lines sit parked at Pinal Airpark, Wednesday, March 18. It covers an area of 2,080 acres and has single runway measuring 6,849 by 150 feet
Decommissioned and suspended commercial aircraft are seen stored in Pinal Airpark on March 19, above and below
US airlines are slashing their domestic and foreign flights in response to the coronavirus pandemic
US airlines are slashing their domestic and foreign flights in response to President Donald Trump’s travel ban and published reports say that some of the unused planes will end up at the facility
The Airpark is mainly used as a ‘boneyard’ for commercial planes, and old planes are stored there with the hope that the desert climate will stop them from rusting.
Most aging aircraft that touch down at the airpark will never take to the skies again and the skeletons of many old models can be found laid out in the sun.
Delta laid its final Boeing 747 passenger plane to rest at the Arizona graveyard in January 2018, marking the final flight of the jumbo jet by a U.S. carrier.
United Airlines had previously retired its last model from service in November when it took the same route as the company’s first version of the aircraft flew back in 1970.
A decomissioned aircraft is seen among various smaller planes at the Pinal Airpark, which is mainly used as a ‘boneyard’ for commercial planes
Decommissioned and suspended commercial aircrafts are seen stored in Pinal Airpark yesterday. Most aging aircraft that touch down at the airpark will never take to the skies again and the skeletons of many old models can be found laid out in the sun
Decommissioned and suspended commercial aircrafts are seen stored in Pinal Airpark on March 19, 2020 in Marana, Arizona. U.S. airlines are slashing their domestic and foreign flights in response to the coronavirus pandemic and President Donald Trump’s travel ban and published reports say that some of the unused planes will end up at the facility
Decommissioned and suspended commercial aircrafts are seen stored in Pinal Airpark on Thursday. Delta laid its final Boeing 747 passenger plane to rest at the Arizona graveyard in January 2018, marking the final flight of the jumbo jet by a U.S. carrier
With a stripped passenger plane in the foreground, a recently landed Delta Air Lines airplane is worked on by ground crew at Pinal Airpark
A recently landed Delta Air Lines jet is towed off a runway at Pinal Airpark. Many passenger planes are being kept at the facility as airlines cut back on service due to the new coronavirus pandemic
Airlines have been forced to cut back on service due to the new coronavirus pandemic, as many countries close their borders to foreign travellers in unprecedented efforts to flatten the curve of infections.
Delta Air Lines have suspended many routes after President Donald Trump announced a month-long restriction on international travel last Wednesday.
Starting this week, the airline has been flying a fly a ‘significantly reduced U.S.-Europe schedule’.
Travel demand has plunged worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, as business and leisure travellers cancel their trips.
Mothballed Delta Air Lines passenger planes are joined by recently arrived Delta airplanes at Pinal Airpark, pictured on Wednesday
A recently landed Delta Air Lines plane is towed past two stripped passenger planes at Pinal Airpark on Wednesday