A virtually new Boeing 787-9 may be heading to the scrapyard because it’s been sitting in storage for more than 10 years. According to Airline Secrets Exposed, the 10-year-old Dreamliner may have as few as 18.7 hours on it, but the accumulated calendar-based maintenance requirements have possibly made it worth more for parts than as a whole plane. It also has no interior. It was built as a Boeing Business Jet and was bought by Saudi Arabian VIP air service Kalair. It only has carpeting in the interior.
The plane did fly in 2024 when it was ferried from its storage site at Basel-Mulhouse-Frieburg Airport in Germany to Cotswold Airport in the U.K. It was bought by AJW Group, an international aircraft parts supplier, which is where the publication drew the inference that it was destined for parts. AJW has not announced the fate of the aircraft, but it does resell whole airplanes in addition to its parts business. It did not immediately respond to our request for elaboration.
Quite a story, most likely of no consequence to any of us but newsworthy and entertaining nonetheless.
Story selection is really important for us as we set the tone for the new publication and, of course, everyone’s view of what’s newsworthy is different. I agree that this one is irrelevant in practical terms to virtually everyone but oddly relatable because we’re all aware of the “use it or lose it” nature of aviation in general. The fact is we aren’t going to get scoops and groundbreaking stories every day so soft items like this will be in the newsletter.
Yup all good. Glad you got the story and wrote it up for us. Sad to see a nice virtually unused 78 get parted out.
I’m an ATP and an A&P/IA and , to me, that story is amazing and relevant.
If it has a standard panel then it would of value to many airlines—— the 777x delays are persuading airlines to seek alternatives and while the 787 deliveries are progressing well, it seems reasonable that if this 787 could be bought well that outfitting would take only months.
My guess is that brokers would be making calls right now.
Scrap, heck. Perhaps a creative entrepreneur could take this aircraft and reimagine it into a B&B and cafe, and locate it at the edge of a ramp somewhere?
What a sad waste.
Russ,
Today is my first experience with AVBrief, and from the stories I’ve seen thus far, it’s great to have the A-team back. I bailed on AVWeb a week or so ago, and then just yesterday learned about what you all are doing with AVBrief. Outstanding. Thanks
There were a lot of pre-built 787 that didn’t go into completion because of the production snapfu at Boeing. What happened to those un-serviceable airframes?
How much fire retardent water will it hold? we could use a dozen or so of these.