More than 10 Airbus A320neos and Boeing 737 MAXs are scheduled to be dismantled this year for spare parts by European aircraft storage company TARMAC Aerosave on behalf of AerFin, an aviation aftermarket firm.
With order books at Airbus and Boeing full, a shortage of supplier capacity, and the disruptions that started during the pandemic having never cleared, delivery of a new aircraft is still roughly a decade or more away.
And as the demand for used components such as engines, landing gear, avionics, and windows surges, more teardown projects are already lined up for 2027.
Lightly used components, for instance, now sell at a premium. High enough that stripping a young aircraft beats paying to make it airworthy.
“With more than 10 aircraft projects again this year for AerFin, this collaboration confirms our position as a leading player in the dismantling and recycling market,” said Christian Ceruti, chief commercial officer at TARMAC Aerosave, in a statement.
“Our dedicated organization allows us to respond with the responsiveness that this high-demand market requires today,” Ceruti added.
The two companies have worked together for about a decade.
Four years old, torn down
EirTrade Aviation bought two former Spirit Airlines A320neos in February for exactly this purpose.
“The aircraft – MSN 10769 and MSN 10921 – are only 4 years and 3.5 years old, respectively and will be the youngest Airbus A320 NEO airframes ever to be torn down,” the Dublin company said in a statement.
Disassembly took place in Goodyear, Arizona, with the recovered parts shipped to EirTrade’s Dallas hub for AOG (aircraft-on-ground) requests (emergency orders needed to get grounded planes flying again) across the Americas.
“We are focused on newer vintage aircraft to ensure that our inventory contains the highest quality rotables, which ensure that our customers can be supported with the latest modification standard components,” said Bill Thompson, vice president of origination and trading for the Americas.
What comes out
Four A320neos that AerFin dismantled with TARMAC Aerosave each yielded about 1,400 components, including engines, auxiliary power units, landing gear, and nacelles. The engines alone can be a large share of an aircraft’s value.
Young jets typically reach the teardown line with damage. So does long storage without engines, a maintenance dispute, or an ownership fight. Returning it to service, therefore, stops making financial sense, and the parts go to market instead.
Neither company has named the aircraft in this program or disclosed how many are A320neos versus 737 MAXs.
Sources: TARMAC Aerosave, AerFin, EirTrade, Aerospace Global News