NEWS

.... While the average jet’s life span is 25 years, a stunning array of art and functional objects made from their remains can be useful far, far longer.

"SkyArt, based in Istanbul, has come up with a way to give some composite and mixed plastic elements a second life. “Cabin interiors used to go to landfills,” said Irmak Erol, SkyArt’s sales director. The company, which also makes aviation-themed furniture using retired aircraft parts, turns aircraft interiors into simulators used by cabin crew training institutions, event organizers, movie production companies and advertising agencies.

SkyArt’s clients include major airlines, corporations, aviation enthusiasts, architects, interior designers, children’s theme park developers, as well as Middle Eastern kings, heads of state and casinos in Macau. A current commission is from the United States Department of State. “We are about to deliver a B-777 mock-up” to the United States Embassy in Kazakhstan, Mr Erol said. “The device will be used for the training of Kazakh Border Guard Service personnel. It is a huge device with a cockpit.”

The average aircraft has about 800 to 1,000 parts that can be reused when it comes out of service. The largest assets, like the engine and landing gear, are often removed, repaired, tested, recertified and used in another aircraft in a carrier’s fleet. Aluminium, copper wiring and other precious metals go to recycling centres and back to the raw supply chain.

Interior components made of mixed plastics, like overhead bins and walls, “are currently the only parts of an aircraft that can’t be recycled, Composite materials, like carbon fibre, that are in the early stages of use in aircraft, are able to be recycled today by recovering the fibres for use in products like electronics. “Boeing, Airbus and the industry as a whole is investing heavily on R & D to learn how to responsibly and cost-effectively recycle those materials,”. The goal is to “help the industry develop techniques for composite airplane recycling,” for aircraft that will not begin to retire for at least another decade” he said.".....