What happens to planes when they are retired?

By Miquel Ros, CNN
Published 5:24 AM EDT, Fri April 13, 2018
<strong>Aircraft revitalized</strong>: What happens to an aircraft when it retires from service? From hotels to furniture to a second life in Australia, there are a surprising number of options.
Aircraft revitalized: What happens to an aircraft when it retires from service? From hotels to furniture to a second life in Australia, there are a surprising number of options.
Courtesy Air Salvage
<strong>Plane sailing:</strong> Air Salvage International is an aviation services firm based at the UK's Cotswolds Airport, where aircraft are dismantled for parts following their retirement.
Plane sailing: Air Salvage International is an aviation services firm based at the UK's Cotswolds Airport, where aircraft are dismantled for parts following their retirement.
Courtesy Air Salvage
<strong>Dismantling planes</strong>: Air Salvage International has dismantled some 730 commercial aircraft: "The average age of the aircraft we scrap is 18 years," managing director Mark Gregory tells CNN Travel.
Dismantling planes: Air Salvage International has dismantled some 730 commercial aircraft: "The average age of the aircraft we scrap is 18 years," managing director Mark Gregory tells CNN Travel.
Courtesy Air Salvage
<strong>Waste and recycle:</strong> Once an aircraft has been de-registered, it technically becomes waste and has to be processed accordingly. The individual metals, plastics and fluids have to be separated and recycled.
Waste and recycle: Once an aircraft has been de-registered, it technically becomes waste and has to be processed accordingly. The individual metals, plastics and fluids have to be separated and recycled.
Courtesy Air Salvage
<strong>Restoring the old</strong>: The French company Tarmac Aerosave is a prominent airplane recycling firm, where planes head to be dismantled and often reinvented.
Restoring the old: The French company Tarmac Aerosave is a prominent airplane recycling firm, where planes head to be dismantled and often reinvented.
CNN/Ayesha Durgahee
<strong>Skeletons</strong>: Tarmac Aerosave keep the skeletons of the aircraft at their facilities at Tarbes and Francazal in southern France and Teruel in eastern Spain.
Skeletons: Tarmac Aerosave keep the skeletons of the aircraft at their facilities at Tarbes and Francazal in southern France and Teruel in eastern Spain.
CNN/Ayesha Durgahee
<strong>Future considered</strong>: Tarmac sometimes picks planes apart or simply stores them while their future is decided.
Future considered: Tarmac sometimes picks planes apart or simply stores them while their future is decided.
courtesy Airbus SAS
<strong>Active market</strong>: Tarmac engineers removed the engines from this aircraft. "Most of the value is in the engines, but there is an active market for all sort of used parts and spares," says David Treitel, a former executive at Apollo Aviation Group, a Miami-based financial services firm.
Active market: Tarmac engineers removed the engines from this aircraft. "Most of the value is in the engines, but there is an active market for all sort of used parts and spares," says David Treitel, a former executive at Apollo Aviation Group, a Miami-based financial services firm.
Courtesy Airbus SAS
<strong>Hold onto your seatbelts</strong>: Tarmac find inventive uses for reusing and recycling the parts from the airplanes.
Hold onto your seatbelts: Tarmac find inventive uses for reusing and recycling the parts from the airplanes.
Courtesy Rémy Michelin
<strong>Moving metal</strong>: This yellow arch at the Tarmac Aerosave facilities at Tarbes has an aircraft fuselage -- a machine that "cold-cuts" metal.
Moving metal: This yellow arch at the Tarmac Aerosave facilities at Tarbes has an aircraft fuselage -- a machine that "cold-cuts" metal.
Courtesy Rémy Michelin
<strong>Aircraft hotel:</strong> Sometimes aircraft get unusual regenerations. A Boeing 747 at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, pictured, has become a hotel.
Aircraft hotel: Sometimes aircraft get unusual regenerations. A Boeing 747 at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, pictured, has become a hotel.
Courtesy Jumbo Stay Hotel
<strong>Sky high:</strong> The grounded jet that has become the Jumbo Stay Hotel offers 33 dorm-style rooms. There's also an extra-special suite in the cockpit.
Sky high: The grounded jet that has become the Jumbo Stay Hotel offers 33 dorm-style rooms. There's also an extra-special suite in the cockpit.
Courtesy Jumbo Stay Hotel
<strong>Aviation-themed:</strong> Near Zurich airport, an old Soviet-made Ilyushin Il-14 is the centerpiece of aviation-themed restaurant Runway34.
Aviation-themed: Near Zurich airport, an old Soviet-made Ilyushin Il-14 is the centerpiece of aviation-themed restaurant Runway34.
Courtesy Runway34
<strong>Unexpected plane sightings</strong>: At the Hotel Costa Verde in Costa Rica, you can spend a night in a former Boeing 727, partially submerged in the jungle canopy.
Unexpected plane sightings: At the Hotel Costa Verde in Costa Rica, you can spend a night in a former Boeing 727, partially submerged in the jungle canopy.
Courtesy Vincent Castello
The amazing second lives of aircrafts
CNN  — 

We’ve all seen the pictures.

Row upon row of derelict aircraft very slowly rusting away in the desert.

Aircraft graveyards might be spectacular, but they’re just a small cog in the fascinating industry that takes care of commercial aircraft once they’re taken out of service.

As soon as an airliner is approaching the end of its operational life, a whole financial and industrial ecosystem, spanning from hedge funds to specialized recycling firms, springs into action.

A hidden treasure

Air Salvage International makes decisions on whether aircraft are saved or scrapped.
Air Salvage International makes decisions on whether aircraft are saved or scrapped.
Courtesy Air Salvage

Even those aircraft deemed too old to fly can hide a large amount of value in their interiors.

“The decision to dismantle an aircraft most often depends on whether the value of its parts and components is higher than that of the aircraft as a flying machine,” says Mark Gregory, managing director of Air Salvage International, an aviation services firm based at the UK’s Cotswolds Airport.

But many aircraft do not even reach old age.

“The average age of the aircraft we scrap is 18 years,” Gregory tells CNN Travel. “This is already well below the theoretical operational life they have been designed for, but in some occasions we have dismantled aircraft that were not even 10 years old,” adds Gregory, whose firm has dismantled some 730 commercial aircraft of all types over the last couple of decades.

Air Salvage Managing Director Mark Gregory says the average age of aircraft scrapped is 18 years.
Air Salvage Managing Director Mark Gregory says the average age of aircraft scrapped is 18 years.
Courtesy Air Salvage

The potential of aircraft parts as an asset class has drawn the attention of specialized investment firms as well as some hedge funds.

“It is a very sizable industry,” explains David Treitel, a former executive at Apollo Aviation Group, a Miami-based financial services firm that is active in this market.

“Most of the value is in the engines, but there is an active market for all sorts of used parts and spares. It is often more interesting for an airline to replace a broken part with a used one, rather than repair it.”

There's a market for used aircraft parts.
There's a market for used aircraft parts.
Courtesy Air Salvage

As the supply for certain components is rather rigid, a surge in demand can prompt a global scramble and drive accordingly the relative value of aircraft and their constituent parts.

Despite the safeguards in place and regulatory oversight – all parts should be properly tracked and accounted for – the global nature of this market and its myriad intermediaries means some counterfeits end up eventually in the supply chain.

An issue that perhaps the nascent blockchain technology industry can help tackle.

“It is estimated that at least 2% of parts are counterfeit. Given the large number of parts in every aircraft, you get an idea of the size of this issue,” says Eleanor Mitch, founder of SafeFlights, a Paris-based start-up that is developing smart contract technologies to certify aerospace parts.

From retirement to scrap

This suite at the Hotel Costa Verde on the Costa Rican coast was once a Boeing 727. For $250 a night ($500 during peak season) you can sleep next to tropical beaches in an airplane that can no longer fly.
Vintage Boeing 727 now rainforest suite —
This suite at the Hotel Costa Verde on the Costa Rican coast was once a Boeing 727. For $250 a night ($500 during peak season) you can sleep next to tropical beaches in an airplane that can no longer fly.
Courtesy Vincent Castello
The emergency door on the 727 leads to a relaxing lunch area on the patio, built above the right wing of the airplane. Unexpected guests may include sloths and monkeys.
Hotel Costa Verde, Costa Rica —
The emergency door on the 727 leads to a relaxing lunch area on the patio, built above the right wing of the airplane. Unexpected guests may include sloths and monkeys.
courtesy vincent costello
Made from the fuselage of a Boeing 307 Stratoliner, this shipshape little vessel once belonged to Howard Hughes. As it passed between owners, it evolved into its current seafaring form. Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett christened it the "Cosmic Muffin." Current owner, Dave Drimmer, purchased it as a houseboat 1981. It now sits in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
It's a plane! It's a boat! It's a house! —
Made from the fuselage of a Boeing 307 Stratoliner, this shipshape little vessel once belonged to Howard Hughes. As it passed between owners, it evolved into its current seafaring form. Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett christened it the "Cosmic Muffin." Current owner, Dave Drimmer, purchased it as a houseboat 1981. It now sits in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
courtesy starkweather design
Owner Dave Drimmer, rebuilding the hull of his "planeboat" in 1994.
The Cosmic Muffin —
Owner Dave Drimmer, rebuilding the hull of his "planeboat" in 1994.
courtesy starkweather design
California-based MotoArt designs and builds unconventional furniture from decommissioned aircraft. Clients include AOL, Microsoft, GoDaddy, NetJets, Alitalia, Boeing, Northrup Grumman and Royal Jordanian.
Corporate furniture from airplane parts —
California-based MotoArt designs and builds unconventional furniture from decommissioned aircraft. Clients include AOL, Microsoft, GoDaddy, NetJets, Alitalia, Boeing, Northrup Grumman and Royal Jordanian.
courtesy motoart
A section of airplane fuselage, pretty much useless on its own. Add a desk and it becomes a stylish aluminum alloy partition that also happens to be extremely tough and durable.
Office space by MotoArt —
A section of airplane fuselage, pretty much useless on its own. Add a desk and it becomes a stylish aluminum alloy partition that also happens to be extremely tough and durable.
courtesy motoart
This MotoArt's seat design is called the "Albatross," and made from parts rescued from airplane bone yards.
If only all airplane seats were this comfy —
This MotoArt's seat design is called the "Albatross," and made from parts rescued from airplane bone yards.
courtesy motoart
"About 120 man hours go into each piece with MotoArt's technician grinding, cutting, sanding and polishing," says MotoArt's website about creating corporate desks from airplane parts. "The wing is buffed for 12 hours to bring about the stunning finish of your piece of art." The website has detailed information about the aircraft each piece is made from.
Executive desk —
"About 120 man hours go into each piece with MotoArt's technician grinding, cutting, sanding and polishing," says MotoArt's website about creating corporate desks from airplane parts. "The wing is buffed for 12 hours to bring about the stunning finish of your piece of art." The website has detailed information about the aircraft each piece is made from.
courtesy motoart
MotoArt creates all sorts of tables -- martini tables, coffee tables, conference tables -- from unexpected plane parts, including propellers.
"We went for the 'raw machine' look this time" —
MotoArt creates all sorts of tables -- martini tables, coffee tables, conference tables -- from unexpected plane parts, including propellers.
courtesy motoart
Magic Mike would love this MotoArt coffee table. It comes with a fancy name -- the F-4 Phantom -- and includes 10 burner cans with red LED internal illumination for mood lighting.
For a certain type of bachelor pad —
Magic Mike would love this MotoArt coffee table. It comes with a fancy name -- the F-4 Phantom -- and includes 10 burner cans with red LED internal illumination for mood lighting.
courtesy motoar
As this simple but brilliant bordbar design proves, getting furniture from airplanes doesn't have to mean cutting through an aluminum fuselage or hacking off the engine. Sometimes it's a matter of taking what's already there and giving it a slight facelift.
A new way to serve —
As this simple but brilliant bordbar design proves, getting furniture from airplanes doesn't have to mean cutting through an aluminum fuselage or hacking off the engine. Sometimes it's a matter of taking what's already there and giving it a slight facelift.
That annoying elbow-jostling drinks cart has a classy new look, thanks to Skypak.
Wine trolley —
That annoying elbow-jostling drinks cart has a classy new look, thanks to Skypak.
courtesy skypak
Skypak, a German company that specializes in selling refurbished trolleys, has a clever storage idea: use trolleys to store ties and shirts. You can purchase customizations such as shelves and drawers with the trolleys at the Skypak store. More innovative conversions include DVD racks, coffee bars and shoe cabinets. Skypak trolleys start at €1,380 ($1,833).
A perfect fit —
Skypak, a German company that specializes in selling refurbished trolleys, has a clever storage idea: use trolleys to store ties and shirts. You can purchase customizations such as shelves and drawers with the trolleys at the Skypak store. More innovative conversions include DVD racks, coffee bars and shoe cabinets. Skypak trolleys start at €1,380 ($1,833).
courtesy motoart