Morocco Plans Aircraft Recycling Center Near Oujda Airport Amid Aviation Industry Challenges

The project will be installed on a 10 ha site, near Oujda Angad airport. Companies interested in the project must submit their bids before June 8, 2021 to ONDA, which will study them and then conclude the contract with the company it has selected for a period of 10 renewable years.

The global air transport industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus. In 2020, revenue losses recorded in the sector amounted to more than $84 billion, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Aircraft storage or withdrawal facilities are used to park or store aircraft for a long period, ready to put them back into service or dismantle them into spare parts. As a general rule, parking an aircraft in a storage facility is much cheaper than leaving it at an airport. The practice is common in the United States, Spain and Australia.

Morocco intends to invest in this activity which seems profitable. According to experts, the aircraft’s engines and spare parts are likely to be reused in other aircraft or sold to companies for use in practical training of pilots, crews and even for counter-terrorism exercises.

Other parts such as the air conditioning system, evacuation chutes, landing gear, as well as the recycled metals from the aircraft, in particular aluminum, can also be recycled in the manufacturing, automotive, construction and bicycle industries.