Where Airbus and Boeing go to die – WSJ on Brazil’s plane cemeteries

If you’re a bit of a plane nerd, you’ll know about the usual plane graveyards such as Mojave, in the USA. But not too far away in Brazil is something a lot spookier. Airports filled with almost new Airbus and Boeing planes just rusting away on runways.

They’ve been left to die wherever they were when the company that owned them went bankrupt. These planes are the result of the volatile commercial aviation industry which crashed hard in Brazil. A number of carriers went bankrupt, and with the legal proceedings taking years to sort out, the planes are often just left sitting on runways, rusting away and growing mould. Most of them should still be in perfect working order and with a bit of TLC could fly away in a few months.

John Lyons of The Wall Street Journal has put together this special video report of the situation. Feel like a plane but can’t afford one like this? Maybe a trip to Brazil is in order to save a plane.