Air India had to pay for a Boeing 737-200 parked at Kolkata Airport in 2012 and allegedly “forgotten” for nearly 13 years!
Calcutta Airport has finally bid farewell to an unusual long-term resident, a Boeing 737-200 that Air India had effectively forgotten for 13 years.
According to airport sources, the airline only recently discovered that the old aircraft had been sitting abandoned in Kolkata since 2012 and decided to dispose of it. The 43-year-old jet was sold through an agent and transported by road to Bengaluru two weeks ago, where it will now be used for air-crew ground training.
Air India paid the airport more than USD 120,000 in accumulated parking and handling fees for the aircraft’s 13-year stay, officials confirmed.
The Boeing 737-200 (registration VT-EHH) had been converted into a cargo aircraft in 2007 and formally deregistered in 2013. Initially kept inside a hangar, it was later moved to an open patch of ground near the southeastern edge of the airfield, exposed to the elements.
Officials added that two more unclaimed aircraft — ATR-72s formerly operated by Alliance Air — have also been sitting at Calcutta Airport for roughly five years. These aircraft remain parked in a remote area on the southwestern side of the airfield.
