In a bizarre aviation oversight, Air India has only just reclaimed a full-sized passenger jet it left abandoned at an Indian airport for 13 years, accumulating a hefty parking bill in the process.
How Does a 30-Tonne Jet Simply Vanish?
While misplacing keys or a phone is commonplace, losing a 30-metre-long Boeing 737-200 seems almost impossible. Yet, this is precisely what happened to Air India. The aircraft, weighing around 30 tonnes, was left gathering dust at Kolkata Airport (CCU) and was only recently recovered after the airport authorities requested its removal.
The story, first reported by The Telegraph, reveals the airline now faces a staggering parking charge of 10 million rupees (approximately £85,000) for its prolonged stay. This incident raises significant questions about asset management and record-keeping within major airlines.
The Complicated History of the 'Forgotten' Jet
The explanation for this extraordinary lapse appears to lie in the plane's complex corporate history. The aircraft, registered as VT-EHH, was originally delivered to Indian Airlines in 1982.
Following the merger of Indian Airlines with Air India in 2007, the jet was leased to the Indian postal service (India Post) to operate as a cargo freighter. According to Air India CEO Campbell Wilson, the plane was decommissioned years ago for this service and was subsequently omitted from numerous official documents.
This administrative error meant that when the merger was complete, the new, combined entity had no formal record of owning the aircraft, leading to it being completely forgotten on the tarmac in Kolkata since 2012.
New Life for an Old Plane
The saga of the lost Boeing 737 has finally reached a conclusion. Aviation enthusiast Trinidade Gois highlighted on social media platform X that the aircraft's sale and transfer were completed last week.
The jet has been acquired by Bengaluru Airport (BIAL). Initial reports suggest it will be used for training Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) engineers. However, a tender from BIAL earlier this year indicated it could also be deployed for fire and rescue training exercises.
This incident emerges against a challenging backdrop for Air India, which has faced intense scrutiny following a passenger plane crash in Ahmedabad in June 2025 that resulted in 260 fatalities. In November of the same year, the airline grounded three of its Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners for extensive investigations related to the crash.
The case of the missing 737 serves as a stark reminder of the critical importance of meticulous record-keeping in the aviation industry, where the scale and value of assets are enormous.
