Photos: Airplane parking lot in Australia in the middle of nowhere has never been busier

Aircraft are stored at the Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage Facility (APAS) in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia. The APAS facility makes a strange and eerie sight, with the flat landscape punctuated by familiar tall tail fins against a brooding desert sky. More than 100 Aircraft are stored at the purpose-built facility adjacent to the airport, which can keep jets maintained and ready to be brought back into service when needed.

Workers tends to the engine of an aircraft during the induction process at the Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage Facility. Despite spiraling Covid-19 case numbers in Europe and the U.S., some are returning to the skies. Data from aviation analytics company Cirium show the number of aircraft making at least one flight per day in the Asia-Pacific region is almost back to pre-Covid levels. That's largely thanks to recovering domestic markets in places like China, where the outbreak is more or less under control.

International routes, however, remain weak. The International Air Transport Association last month downgraded its traffic forecast for 2020 to reflect a weaker-than-expected recovery. The group, which represents some 290 airlines, now expects full-year traffic to be down 66% versus 2019, more than a previous estimate of a 63% decline. Tellingly, tail fins from Singapore Airlines Ltd. and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. - both carriers without a domestic market - are most commonly seen at the facility.

A dust storm blows past serviced aircraft that are sealed and stored at the Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage Facility.

Serviced aircraft are sealed and stored at the Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage Facility (APAS) in Alice Springs. Cirium data also show the number of planes in storage around much of Asia declining. At Alice Springs, though, the numbers keep rising. Many Asian locations are too humid for long-term storage of aircraft, so planes that were parked there on the expectation of a quick return to the skies are now heading to Alice Springs, whose dry, desert air and cool nights make for near-perfect storage conditions.

APAS Managing Director Tom Vincent says the idea of a storage facility in Australia's center had been around for a long time. But the former Deutsche Bank AG debt analyst was the first to act on it, raising A$5.5 million ($4 million) and clearing a slew of regulatory requirements to build it in 2013 before accepting his first plane a year later.

Vincent, 42, is planning for his facility to become the main southern hemisphere hub for long-term aircraft storage, even after the pandemic is over. He's about to submit planning applications for a fourth expansion, including another huge fenced platform that will accommodate a further 60 wide-body jets, taking capacity to between 250 and 300 aircraft. Above, a worker tends to the engine of an aircraft during the induction process at the Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage Facility (APAS) in Alice Springs.

"It's been intense," Vincent says of 2020. He expects the number of planes parked at APAS to eventually settle at around 200. "It's been an incredibly difficult time for the industry. Yes, there will be certain aircraft that go back into operation, hopefully sooner rather than later, but there's still a huge pipeline of aircraft that are going to require parking and maintenance." Above, pilots disembark from a Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. aircraft as workers prepare to move the airplane to the adjacent Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage Facility (APAS) at Alice Springs Airport, in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia.

A worker tends to the engine of an aircraft during the induction process at the Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage Facility.

Aircraft are stored at the Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage Facility (APAS) in Alice Springs.

Once inducted, sealed and towed to a parking bay, each plane is on a rolling system of seven, 30 and 90-day checks. During this time, bags of desiccant in the engine bays are examined, tires are rotated and brake systems are maintained. Storing a plane is certainly not simply a matter of parking it and walking away. Vincent says aircrews can become quite nostalgic when they step off the plane for the last time. "I meet most crews as they come off the aircraft," he says. "They're not sure when they're going to see the aircraft again. Usually there's photos. We like to say we're going to look forward to when they come back to pick them up."