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Teruel Airport is not a special airport.
Located in the dusty, depopulated plains of eastern Spain, this repurposed military airbase is home to a 2,825-metre-long runway, a control tower and modest terminal – but not a single commercial flight.
The state-owned facility has quietly become one of Europe’s most popular aircraft maintenance and storage centers, despite the lack of passenger traffic.
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The war in Iran has thrown the timetables of airlines into turmoil, and this remote outpost is a lifesaver.
Qatar Airways flew five aircraft from Sao Paulo to Teruel on Saturday. The flights were also made from Lagos, Miami, and Sao Paulo.
This is in addition to the ten planes that were already parked at Aragon’s tarmac.
On Sunday, five more wide-body Qatar Airways aircraft made their way to Teruel – including four Airbus A333 jets from the airline’s Doha base.
Read more: Bookings for Easter holidays to Spain’s Balearic Islands are up by 40% due to the war in Iran
The scenes are uncanny reminiscent of Covid, the pandemic that ravaged the world in the 1980s when airlines cut routes to the point of collapse and the airport was turned into a graveyard of hundreds of passenger aircraft.
Teruel is a very popular destination for many of the largest airlines in the world.
First – and most obviously – is safety.
Qatar Airways, a cash-rich carrier, knows that its multi-million euro jets are safe thousands of miles from a conflict area where large swathes airspace were closed and airports targeted by drones and missiles.
These conditions are perfect for long-term storage.
Read more: Spain is slashing VAT on gas, electricity and fuel amid the Iran War energy crisis.
The dry, low-humidity, salt-free air dramatically slows down the process of corrosion – alternatively known as rusting – which serves as one of the biggest long-term threats to aircraft sitting idle.
It is also one of Europe’s biggest plane parking facilities, as the airport has enough space in its hangars and on its tarmac to accommodate up to 400 narrow-body aircraft or 250 wide-body aircraft.
Teruel’s attractiveness is enhanced by the fact that it offers a solution to a sector in crisis, including a sea of despair, such as skyrocketing fuel prices, airspace restrictions and costly reroutes.
It does, however, mean that for the time being, this quiet corner in Spain is playing a vital but unlikely role at a critical moment of global crisis.
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