April was a sad time for two Boeing 747-8s.
Under completely unrelated circumstances, two different and unconnected 747-8s were
both sent to Pinal Airpark in Marana Arizona- one day after another.
Pinal is a site most often associated with being a long-term storage site- or quote-unquote
‘boneyard’ for aircraft.
As we noted in a recent article on our website- and video on our long haul channel, Singapore-based
aircraft lessor, BOC Aviation had managed to reclaim its Boeing 747-8F from Russian
airfreight operator AirBridgeCargo in late March.
The jet, registered VQ-BFE, flew from Hong Kong to San Bernardino, California on March
25th and had been parked there for several weeks.
However, some three weeks after touching down in San Bernardino, the nearly eight-year-old
aircraft took off yet again- this time bound for Marana Pinal Airport.
The flight took just one hour, with the 747 taking off at 09:38 local time on April 14th
and touching down at Marana at 10:39 local time.
The very next day, on April 15th, flight tracking data showed that the 747-8i registered N458BJ
made a long flight from Basel, Switzerland, to Pinal Airpark.
Per a recent tweet, the privately-owned Boeing 747-8BBJ was headed to the desert for a 'part
out,' - that is to say, to be disassembled for its components, scrapping the plane altogether.
The plane was originally ordered by the Saudia Arabian Royal Flight group.
Boeing delivered the jumbo in June 2012, with plans for the plane to be registered as HZ-HMS1.
However, even ten years later, this never materialized.
Apparently, this plane has only flown a miniscule 42 hours, a number most airlines meet in just
a few days…
It MIGHT be a different story for the 747-8F previously operated by AirBridgeCargo.
Afterall, Boeing 747-8 freighters continue to operate cargo services around the world
every day.
Indeed, some are still being built and delivered to customers.
UPS received a brand new 747-8 freighter in recent weeks while Atlas Air will receive
Boeing’s last four -8Fs ever-to-be-built between now and October.
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine drags on, it's possible that this aircraft could remain
in Marana for weeks or even months.
However, on the surface, it seems possible for the aircraft to be reallocated to another
air operator.
The jet is legally owned by BOC Aviation and thus could hypothetically be leased out to
another operator.
While no other airlines on BOC Aviation's long list of customers operate 747 freighters
that come from the lessor, data shows, that Qatar Airways leases 13 aircraft from BOC
Aviation- a combination of A350s and 777s.
Since Qatar also currently operates two Boeing 747-8Fs with its cargo division- it would
appear to be a suitable customer for BOC Aviation to make a pitch to for the seized aircraft.
Of course, there are probably many other factors we're overlooking that would stand in the
way of this seemingly perfect match.
One hurdle- as some have pointed out - is the aircraft’s service record.
Having been operated by a Russian company, service records for the seized aircraft may
now be difficult to obtain- making it much more difficult to sell or re-allocate.
Sadly, if this is true, this seized freighter may also have to be parted-out and disassembled
for scrap.
How do you feel about two fairly young, good-condition 747-8s potentially being scrapped?
Share your opinion by leaving a comment.