With airline fleets grounded, plane recyclers bet on parts boom

The number of planes dismantled for parts or scrap could double to 1,000 annually through 2023, up from roughly 400 to 500 planes a year since 2016, according to data firm Cirium.

A completely salvaged cockpit of an Airbus A310 airplane. The fate of the world’s pool of grounded planes is being closely watched by players in the market for used-serviceable material, with one report from consultants Oliver Wyman forecasting “a tsunami of demand” for such parts, as airlines seek to lower costs.

Airbus A310 airplanes with their engines removed sit on the tarmac. The pandemic, which is expected result in a 55% drop in 2020 passenger numbers, has prompted early retirements of older planes, including the grounding of B747 jets by British Airways, some of which are headed to Air Salvage.

When an aircraft arrives at Aerocycle’s Mirabel facility in, Quebec, Canada it is subject to a systematic process designed explicitly for that aircraft type. Before dismantling begins, a series of tests determine the status of the aircraft systems.

The aircraft fuel tanks are then defuelled, drained and vacuumed. The hydraulic systems are also drained and purged and hazardous materials are disposed of in accordance with local regulations.

Even as aviation remains in a slump because of the pandemic, the head of U.S. commercial aerospace company GA Telesis was made aware of five airlines calling for offers to dismantle planes. Above, an employee inspects an engine on an Airbus A310 airplane prior to removal at airplane recycling company Aerocycle in Mirabel, Quebec.

An Airbus A310 airplane with its engine removed sits on the tarmac. While companies that store, dismantle, and buy and sell used aircraft parts see opportunity in parked planes, a sudden increase in the supply of used parts risks depressing prices in the estimated $3 billion a year industry, despite demand from airlines seeking to lower maintenance costs, executives and analysts say.

The galley of an Airbus A310 airplane is partially salvaged. While maintenance companies and new engine producers also deal in used materials, a parts surplus could weigh on their sales.

Across the border, Canada’s Aerocycle is bidding to buy grounded planes for the first time to dismantle and resell for parts, instead of just recycling aircraft on consignment from carriers, its CEO said.

Rubber wheel chocks are seen behind the tires on an Airbus A310 as it sits on the tarmac at airplane recycling company Aerocycle in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada.

Used materials could compete with new parts and defer immediate airline demand for “aftermarket” spend, referring to the maintenance, repair and overhaul sector, now estimated by Naveo Consultancy at $50 billion. Above, a worker inspects the cockpit of an emptied Airbus A310 airplane.

Salvaged pieces collected in an Airbus A310 airplane at recycling company Aerocycle in Mirabel.

The cap for an engine casing sits on the tarmac behind an Airbus A310 airplane at airplane recycling company Aerocycle in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada. As COVID-19 grounds swaths of airline fleets, companies that profit off the dismantling and trade of aircraft parts are seeing early signs of an expected rebound in activity as carriers accelerate plane retirements.

UK-based Air Salvage International, which normally dismantles between 40 and 50 aircraft a year, has parked more planes without a buyer for their parts since the COVID-19 outbreak. Founder Mark Gregory expects most will eventually be dismantled.

Salvaged pieces collected in an Airbus A310 airplane. Airlines are looking for narrowbody parts, since around 64% of that single-aisle aircraft type are active, flying domestic routes.