Missing Boeing 737 plane found after 13 years

An airline has finally found a passenger plane it lost more than a decade ago – but the company has been slapped with a huge parking fine.

Blundering Air India couldn’t find one of its Boeing 737 aircraft back in 2012 after misplacing the jet following a flight. The huge 30-tonne plane vanished from its records and was written off by bosses after they failed to track it down.

But staff were stunned to receive a demand from Kolkata Airport at the start of December telling them to come and remove the aircraft – and pay a huge sum for how long it had been quietly sitting in a remote corner of the tarmac. Air India initially claimed the aircraft was not theirs, it has been reported.

The confusion appears to stem from what has been described as ‘administrative lapses’, but the paperwork problems will come at a cost. The firm were told they need to pay £82,000, for the 13 years it has been left.

The plane is understood to have been previously registered to Indian Airlines, another state-owned airline that merged with Air India 18 years ago. It was then rented to the Indian postal service before being converted into a cargo aircraft.

It is reported that Air India CEO Campbell Wilson decided the plane should be decommissioned, but his decision was omitted from official documents – leaving workers hunting for the empty jet for months.