Spanish ‘ghost airport’ reinvents itself as park for idle jets

Spain’s Ciudad Real airport had become almost obsolete before the Covid-19 outbreak, operating mainly as a drop-off point for hunting enthusiasts keen to visit the region’s renowned country estates. The arrival of the coronavirus ended even that trickle of demand, tearing up the growth plans of the owner, CR International Airport SL. But rather than face the prospect of collapse, the company reinvented the hub as a home for grounded planes, with capacity to store as many as 300 through a series of renovation projects. “When the pandemic hit, right after the end of the the hunting season in February, we received dozens of requests to stow planes,” said Francisco Luna, CEO at CR International, which bought Ciudad Real in 2016. The main taxiway has already been converted, and accommodates about half of the almost 80 jets parked at the hub. Three more reconstructions are underway to allow for more arrivals, the CEO said, adding that the hub is profitable. Ciudad Real’s pivot comes as more than 8,100 planes sit idle around the world, or 31% of the global fleet, according to aviation database Cirium. An expected resurgence in international travel hasn’t materialized, as fresh waves of infections and travel restrictions kill demand from the US to Australia. Meanwhile smaller airports are facing a financial crisis of their own, with one in four European hubs struggling to stave off insolvency without state help. Another Spanish beneficiary of the excess of grounded planes is Teruel airport, 275 kilometers east of Madrid, which expects revenues to increase 25% this year in part due to plane storage. Regional and city authorities own the hub, which was designed to maintain, recycle and stow planes. France’s Chateauroux airport near Paris is another to have become more focused on storage than travel, even turning away airlines seeking to store more planes.<br/>