Here S Where Airlines Are Storing The Boeing 737 Max

With the timeline for re-entry into service unclear and the aircraft grounded worldwide, many airlines have made the decision to store their Boeing 737 MAXes at secondary airports and desert-storage facilities rather than allow them to take up space at major airports. Though reports indicated that the Boeing 737 MAX could re-enter service as soon as this June, airlines do not seem to be as confident in that timeline. Last week, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines announced that the plane would be removed from schedules through the busy summer travel season.More than two months since the aircraft was grounded, here’s where airlines are storing the Boeing 737 MAX.Southwest AirlinesSouthwest Airlines is the biggest operator of the MAX worldwide; it relocated its whole fleet to a particular airport. As of April 19th, all 34 of Southwest Airlines’ Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft are parked in storage at Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, CA.AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredSouthern California Logistics/Victorville Airport (VCV)34Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX aircraft parked on the tarmac at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville on March 28 (Photo by MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)American Airlines11 of the airline’s 24 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft are located at the airline’s maintenance facility in Tulsa. Storing the 737 MAX 8 at the airline’s primary maintenance base provides American Airlines with inexpensive storage and easy access to maintenance personnel.Additionally, eight are in storage at Roswell in New Mexico, also noted like Victorville for the dry desert climate that’s easy on metal. The rest are scattered at minor airports in the US.AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredTulsa International Airport (TUL)11Roswell Airport (ROW)8Orlando/Melbourne Airport (MLB)3Phoenix-Sky Harbor Airport (PHX)1Boston-Logan Airport (BOS)1Mobile Airport (BFM)1Air CanadaAir Canada’s fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft is currently stored throughout Canada. The airline’s MAX aircraft can be found both at the airline’s major hubs like Montreal Airport (YUL) as well as smaller airports like Trois-Rivières Airport (YRQ). The airline operates the third-largest fleet of Boeing 737 MAXs worldwide.AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredWindsor International Airport (YQG)8Trois-Rivières Airport (YRQ)5Winnipeg International Airport (YWG)4Calgary International Airport (YYC)2Vancouver International Airport (YVR)2Halifax Airport (YHZ)2Montreal International Airport (YUL)1WestJetWestJet has also stored its fleet of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft throughout Canada at various airports. Unlike Air Canada, WestJet’s aircraft are stored at larger airports each with regularly scheduled passenger service. The airport with the most WestJet 737 MAX aircraft is Kelowna Airport (YLW) located 257 miles east of Vancouver in British Columbia.AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredKelowna Airport (YLW)5Calgary International Airport (YYC)3Toronto International Airport (YYZ)2Vancouver International Airport (YVR)1Edmonton International Airport (YEG)1Hamilton International Airport (YHM)1SunwingSunwing is a Canadian lesuire airline with a fleet of just four Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. All are stored at Windsor in Ontario.AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredWindsor International Airport (YQG)4 (all)IcelandairOperating a small fleet of 737 MAX 8 aircraft, Icelandair keeps all of them at its base, Keflavik Airport outside the capital Reykjavik.Sign up for our daily newsletterEmail addressSign upI would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. The Points Guy will not share or sell your email. See privacy policy.AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredKeflavik Airport (KEF)3 (all)Icelandair’s new Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane in Iceland. (Photo by Pall Jokull for Icelandair/The Brooklyn Brothers via Getty Images)UnitedThe sole US operator of the larger MAX 9 model, United Airlines is storing its fleet at various airports across the US including at United’s hubs like San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH).AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredHouston-Hobby (HOU)8Houston Intercontinental (IAH)2Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)2San Francisco International Airport (SFO)1One of the two United 737 MAXes kept in storage at LAX (Photo by Alberto Riva/TPG)CopaWith a small fleet of just 6 MAX 9 aircraft, Panama-based Copa is storing all of its aircraft at its home base.AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredPanama City/Tocumen Airport (PTY)6GOLBrazilian carrier GOL operates a fleet of just 6 Boeing 737 MAX 8, all grounded at the Tancredo Neves Airport (CNF) in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredTancredo Neves Airport (CNF)6Turkish AirlinesTurkish Airlines keeps all the grounded MAXes at the three airports serving Istanbul.AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredIstanbul Ataturk Airport (ISL)9Istanbul International Airport (IST)2Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SAW)1FlydubaiFlydubai operates a fleet of 13 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. All are stored in Dubai at one of the emirate’s two airports.AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredDubai International Airport (DXB)10Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC)3FlyDubai’s Business Class aboard the Boeing 737 MAX 8TUI GroupOne of the largest leisure carriers in Europe, TUI Group operates a fleet of 15 737 MAX 8s and is storing it throughout Europe. The majority are currently stored at Manchester Airport in the UK (MAN) and Brussels Airport in Belgium (BRU). The remaining 6 aircraft are stored at various airports throughout Europe.AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredManchester Airport (MAN)5Brussels Airport (BRU)4Tenerife Airport (TFS)1Amsterdam-Schipol International Airport (AMS)2Stockholm-Arlanda International Airport (ARN)2Sofia International Airport (SOF)1Norwegian AirNorwegian Air is the largest European operator of the Boeing 737 MAX. With operating bases throughout Europe, the airline’s 737 MAXs are being stored throughout the continent at airports in the UK, Norway, Spain, and other European countries — plus one in Israel.AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredGran Canaria Airport (LPA)3Oslo Airport (OSL)3Helsinki Airport (HEL)2Dublin Airport (DUB)2Copenhagen Airport (CPH)2Tenerife Airport (TFS)1Stockholm-Arlanda Airport (ARN)1Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion Airport (TLV)1Edinburgh Airport (EDI)1Paphos Airport (PFO)1Air ChinaThe second-largest Chinese operator of the Boeing 737 MAX, the airline has 16 of the aircraft in its fleet. Air China is storing the aircraft at three airports throughout China.AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredBeijing International Airport (PEK)10Chongqing Jiangbei Airport (CKG)5Tianjin Binhai Airport (TSN)1China EasternAccording to the latest data from Flightradar24, the airline operates just three Boeing 737 MAX 8s. The airline likely operated a fourth aircraft with the registration B-205L, however, that aircraft appears to have joined the China Southern Airlines fleet. China Eastern is storing all of its 737 MAX aircraft at Kunming Changshui Airport (KMG).AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredKunming Changshui Airport (KMG)3China SouthernChina Southern Airlines is the largest Chinese operator of the Boeing 737 MAX with 25 in the fleet. The airline’s fleet of 737 MAX aircraft is stored at three airports throughout China. Additionally, the airline has six flight-ready 737 MAX 8s in storage in the United States at Seattle-Boeing Field (BFI).AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredÜrümqi Diwopu International Airport (URC)12Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN)12Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport (LHW)1AeromexicoWith just six Boeing 737 MAX 8, Aeromexico has managed to store all of its 737 MAXs at the airline’s largest hub, Mexico City International Airport (MEX).AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredMexico City International Airport (MEX)6 (all)(Image courtesy of Aeromexico)Xiamen AirXiamen Air has 10 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in the fleet. The Chinese airline is storing its entire fleet at two airports in China.AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredXiamen Gaoqi International Airport (XMN)6Fuzhou Changle International Airport (FOC)4Hainan AirlinesChinese carrier Hainan Airlines operates a fleet of 11 Boeing 737 MAX 8s. The airline is storing its fleet at three airports across China.AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredHaikou Meilan International Airport (HAK)5Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN)3Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport (SZX)3SpiceJetThe only airline in India operating the Boeing 737 MAX, SpiceJet has a fleet of 13 MAX 8s. The airline is storing the aircraft at airports throughout India.AirportNumber of Aircraft StoredDelhi/Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL)5Ahmedabad Airport (AMD)2Chennai International Airport (MAA)2Bengaluru Airport (BLR)1Mumbai International Airport (BOM)1Kolkata International Airport (CCU)1Hyderabad Airport (HYD)1(Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)Storing The 737 MAX: A Potentially Pricey TaskWe reached out to various airlines for information regarding the storage of their MAX aircraft, but none was willing to say how much storing the planes costs. Eric Ray, the director of Southern California Logistics Airport at Victorville, told us that the airport’s base fee for monthly storage of a Boeing 737 is $450 per month. However, Ray noted that this is merely a baseline; airlines have to work out a price for storage and maintenance.When asked about additional fees airlines incur when an aircraft is stored at the airport, Ray told TPG that fees varied from tenant to tenant. Many airlines that store aircraft are required to follow an FAA-mandated “active storage program.” FAA guidelines state that “Storage programs are intended to preserve the aircraft in a known state through methods, techniques, and procedures designed to mitigate or eliminate the adverse effects of the storage environment and non-operation of the aircraft.” Maintenance storage programs could include regular maintenance as well as extensive aircraft overhaul procedures.Nevertheless, for airlines that are unable to accommodate the Boeing 737 MAX at one of their own maintenance facilities, the cost to store an entire fleet of modern narrowbody aircraft is sure to add up.With reporting by Howard SlutskenThis story has been edited to add a missing WestJet 737.