Air India’s ‘Lost’ Boeing 737 Resurfaces After 13 Years in Kolkata Airport Parking Bay

In an extraordinary tale of administrative oversight, Air India has rediscovered a Boeing 737-200 aircraft that had been quietly gathering dust in a remote parking bay at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport for over 13 years.

The 43-year-old jet, registered as VT-EHH, was decommissioned in 2012 after a varied career that included service with Indian Airlines, Alliance Air, and as a cargo freighter for India Post. However, due to record-keeping lapses amid mergers and the airline’s 2022 privatization by the Tata Group, the plane vanished from Air India’s official inventories.

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson described the incident in an internal memo: “Though disposal of an old aircraft is not unusual, this one is, for it’s an aircraft that we didn’t even know we owned until recently! Over time, it was lost from memory.”

The rediscovery came last month when airport authorities, needing the space for new hangars, contacted Air India to remove the aircraft and settle outstanding fees.

The airline initially disputed invoices for parking charges, claiming no record of the plane’s presence. But after confirming ownership, Air India paid approximately Rs.10 million (around $120,000) in accumulated fees.

On November 14, the Boeing 737-200, a first-generation model long retired from passenger service, was loaded onto a trailer for a 1,900km road journey to Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport. There, it will serve as a ground training aid for maintenance engineers.

Notably, VT-EHH was the only retired Air India aircraft sold with its Pratt & Whitney engines intact, potentially allowing reuse of valuable components despite the airframe’s negligible resale value.

This marks the 14th defunct aircraft cleared from Kolkata Airport in recent years, highlighting ongoing efforts to reclaim space from abandoned planes.

Aviation experts note that while grounded aircraft typically incur costs rather than generate revenue, such a prolonged “forgetting” of an asset is rare, attributed to bureaucratic gaps in India’s state-run airline era.

Air India confirmed the payment and relocation, emphasizing improved asset management under new ownership.