Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage (APAS) said they will face the lack of space for further grounded aircraft in the near future. 

APAS facility in Alice Springs, Central Australia, is full. The company already stores 94 aircraft, including Singapore Airlines (SIA1) (SINGY) , Cathay Pacific, Fiji Air and Cebu Pacific grounded planes. APAS has 16 available slots left at Alice Springs, but they have already been booked in advance by air carriers, the company said.

The growth in the number of grounded planes is a significator of how hard the airlines are struggling to fight the pandemic worldwide, revealed Tom Vincent, the Managing Director of APAS.

Seeing a dramatically increased demand for space suitable for plane storage, APAS plans to expand its facility in Alice Springs from its current 110 slots and become able to accommodate up to 200 aircraft. However, since the implementation of expansion plans has not even started yet, the company currently seeks to find appropriate extra space for new customers.

In order to manage some additional storage, APAS has started to store some of the grounded planes at Toowoomba Wellcamp (WTB). The Managing Director stated that presently the company stores only two planes in the new facility in South East Queensland, though some more are on plans to arrive until October 4, 2020.

The airlines choose Alice Springs due to dry weather conditions in the desert that do not pose any hazard of corrosion for stored aircraft. While being stored, the aircraft undergo a rigorous maintenance schedule.