Parking pain: Airlines, airports hunt for storage space as pandemic idles planes

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Struggling to find a parking space can be frustrating...more so when you're trying to find a spot for a passenger jet.

But that's the unprecedented problem facing the air travel industry.

As airlines idle thousands of aircraft due to the coronavirus pandemic, taxiways, maintenance hangars and even runways at major airports are being transformed into giant parking lots

for more than 2,500 planes.

It's thought the number of aircraft in storage has doubled to more than 5,000 since the start of the year, with more expected in the coming weeks as carriers around the world slash flight schedules.

In the U.S, United Airlines and American Airlines said they were parking planes at maintenance facilities for now.

Some airports, such as Melbourne and Brisbane are providing parking for free.

Cathay Pacific Airways, one of the first and hardest hit by the virus outbreak, has been using remote bays, taxiways and other areas at Hong Kong International Airport.