FEATURE FILM / 2022

Der Kampf um die Riesenflieger

Hardly noticed by the public, the largest aircraft parking lot in Europe has been built in a semi-desert in Spain. Close to the city of Teruel in the east of the country, aircraft from a wide variety of airlines have been mothballed. Their future is uncertain. Since the coronavirus crisis, these include the largest and most expensive aircraft in the world. For example, the Airbus A380 and the jumbo jet, the Boeing 747: two symbols of a decades-long "air war" between Airbus and Boeing. Four-jet airplanes are considered fuel guzzlers and CO2 sinners. Even the modern A380, which is approved for up to 853 passengers, was withdrawn from service by many airlines after just a few years of operation. Never before in the history of aviation has such an expensive series aircraft been taken out of service after such a short time. But its end is far from certain.