In an extraordinary aviation revelation, a Boeing 737-200 aircraft that had been gathering dust at Kolkata airport for over 13 years finally began its journey to a new purpose on November 14. The surprising twist: Air India, the plane's owner, had completely forgotten about its existence until airport authorities brought it to their attention.
The Discovery of a Forgotten Aircraft
The remarkable story unfolded when Kolkata airport officials contacted Air India about the idle aircraft parked at the southeastern edge of the airport. In an internal communication to employees, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson expressed astonishment, stating, "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!"
Investigations revealed that the 43-year-old aircraft had slipped through the company's records during the privatization process three years ago, disappearing from both official ledgers and institutional memory. This marked the 14th defunct aircraft removed from Kolkata airport's premises in the past five years.
Historical Journey of VT-EHH
The aircraft with registration VT-EHH has a rich history in Indian aviation. It first joined the Indian Airlines fleet in September 1982 before being leased to Alliance Air in February 1998. After nearly a decade with Alliance Air, the plane returned to Indian Airlines in March 2007, where it served as a cargo aircraft.
Following the merger of Indian Airlines with Air India in August 2007, the aircraft transferred to Air India's ownership. Its final operational role was with India Post before being decommissioned in 2012. Since then, it had remained stationary at Kolkata airport, accumulating parking fees that eventually totaled nearly Rs 1 crore that Air India had to pay to the airport authorities.
Unique Aspects and Future Purpose
What makes this aircraft disposal particularly unusual is that this was the only Air India plane sold with its original Pratt & Whitney engines still intact. The nine other defunct Air India aircraft disposed of previously had been sold without their engines.
The aircraft has been purchased by Bangalore International Airport Ltd, where it will serve a new purpose: training maintenance engineers at their MRO facility. This contrasts with other disposed Air India aircraft, which typically have their fuselages repurposed for restaurants by private companies.
The clearance of this forgotten aircraft creates space for development at Kolkata airport. The site where VT-EHH was parked will now accommodate one of two new hangars proposed for the airport.
An airport official confirmed that only two defunct ATR planes belonging to government-owned Alliance Air now remain at Kolkata airport. Among other significant aircraft removed from the airport was a historic Douglas DC-3 Dakota that former Odisha CM Biju Patnaik famously flew to rescue Indonesian leaders from Dutch blockades in 1947, which has been restored for display at Bhubaneswar airport.
