Air India pays $167,000 fine after finding missing Boeing 737 jet at Kolkata Airport.
Key Points
- 1Air India was fined 10 million rupees ($167,000 AUD) by Kolkata Airport for 13 years of accumulated parking fees for a Boeing 737-200 that the airline had misplaced since 2012.
- 2Internal audits confirmed the 43-year-old, 30-tonne jet belonged to Air India, having been omitted from official records due to staff turnover and documentation gaps following a merger.
- 3The decommissioned Boeing 737-200 was sold and transported to Bengaluru, where it will now be repurposed for essential aircrew ground training exercises.
- 4The removal of the B737-200 is the 14th abandoned aircraft cleared from Kolkata Airport in five years, with two additional unclaimed ATR-72s still parked on the airfield.
Air India was recently compelled to pay 10 million rupees (approximately $A167,000) in accumulated parking and handling fees after Kolkata Airport (CCU) requested the removal of a derelict Boeing 737-200. The aircraft, which had been decommissioned and deregistered in 2012, was initially denied by Air India until an internal audit confirmed the 30-tonne jet belonged to the carrier, having been misplaced due to staff turnover and documentation gaps following the 2007 merger with Indian Airlines.
The 43-year-old Boeing 737-200 had a varied operational history, serving Indian Airlines, Alliance Air, and finally operating as a cargo aircraft for India Post before its official decommissioning. Air India CEO Campbell Wilson confirmed the jet was omitted from official records after its removal from service. Following the payment of the substantial fine, the aircraft was sold and transported by road to Bengaluru, where it will now be utilized for aircrew ground training purposes.
The removal of this long-forgotten Boeing 737-200 marks the 14th abandoned aircraft cleared from Kolkata Airport in the last five years, highlighting ongoing issues with derelict airframes at the facility. Airport officials noted that two additional unclaimed ATR-72 turboprops, formerly operated by Alliance Air, remain parked in a remote section of the airfield, having sat there for approximately five years. This incident occurs amid recent operational scrutiny for Air India, including a fatal crash involving a passenger jet in June 2025 and the grounding of three Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners in November for extensive investigations.
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