Airliner World – April 2018

60 AIRLINER WORLD APRIL 2018

are still deployable for a long time.
The landing gear and APU aside, we’re
interested in all components that
suffer from wear – such parts need to
be replaced regularly, so there should
be demand for them. We’re guided
in part by the aircraft’s maintenance
records – comprising three pallets of
paper – which give us a good idea of
which components have a habit of
breaking down.”
While the group endeavoured to
recover and repurpose as much of the
airframe as possible (parts were stored
in an adjacent hangar as the aircraft
was taken apart), one major element
had little use and was instead sold for
recycling – the aluminium fuselage.
Once the usable parts were removed,
heavy tracked machinery was brought
in to cut the remnants into more
manageable pieces for reprocessing,
after which they were melted down
into aluminium ingots.
Fortunately, AELS benefits greatly
from geographical convenience –
Twente lies in close proximity to a
variety of recertifying companies,
making the reselling of various types
of components a relatively easy and
profitable enterprise. The fact that so
little needs to be thrown away is part
of the justification for the Dutch firm
promoting itself as being environmen-
tally friendly.
“We make sure to start disassembly
soon after an aircraft is decommis-
sioned, so that weather, corrosion or
market developments don’t decrease
the components’ value,” Van Heerden
explained. “Another part of our being
green is the good recycling infrastruc-
ture in the Netherlands, which we can
benefit from for everything that can't
be reused. For instance, Van Dalen
is our regular partner for processing

more years before being unceremoni-

ously discarded,” the CEO remarked.

“This changed with the withdrawal of

government support, leading European

companies to start retaining their

equipment for longer instead of selling

them on. Furthermore, when they want

to get rid of a plane, they’re now legally

obligated to do so in a ‘proper’ manner.”

So the services of dismantling firms

such as AELS have become necessary.

Van Heerden said there are now around

seven or eight independent providers

in Europe alone, all vying with

competitors elsewhere on the globe to

process the 600 to 800 aircraft

discarded worldwide annually.

“When I started up AELS, I was

expecting airlines to place an increas-

ing emphasis on sustainability, but

unfortunately the focus is typically on

the bottom line – if I’m greener than

my competitor for the same price, then

they’ll choose me.”

Significantly, while AELS paid to

acquire the A340, there are occasions

when the components of a discarded

type have such little residual value

that the firm must instead charge

money to accept an aircraft. This, Van

Heerden remarked, is typically the case

for stranded airframe with no main-

tenance records, due for example to

bankruptcy of the operator.

Acquiring a widebody airliner with

adequate records, on the other hand, is

likely to cost the company a sizeable

sum that it needs to earn back later.

But such larger investments fit in with

the company’s ambitions to grow.

At the time of writing, AELS has two

former Air France A340-300s and a pair

of Boeing 747s, previously flown by

KLM, at its Twente site. And with plans

to double the volume of aircraft

handled from four last year to eight in

20 18, it is already well on the way to

achieving its goal.

the aluminium scrap. They normally

use their metal shredders for cars and

washing machines but these can be

cleaned and tuned specifically to

handle pieces of aircraft fuselage.”

Serving a Niche

Van Heerden founded AELS in 2006,

immediately after graduating (on a the-

sis investigating the fate of discarded

planes around the world) as a Master of

Science in Aerospace Engineering. At

that time, the great wave of airline pri-

vatisation was still ongoing, itself giving

birth to a new industry of aircraft dis-

mantling companies in Europe. “At one

time, major carriers would resell their

machines long before they were worn

out. These aircraft invariably went to

secondary markets, such as Africa,

where they would fly on for several

Twente lies close to a

variety of recertifying

companies, making

the reselling of various

types of components

a relatively easy and

profitable enterprise.

The firm is justifiably

proud of its environmen-

tally friendly methods

of working. The “good”

recycling infrastructure

available in the

Netherlands means very

little is thrown away.