Air India hit with mammoth bill after discovering forgotten Boeing 737 had been racking up airport parking fines since 2012
Published on Dec 02, 2025 at 3:42 PM (UTC+4)
by Daisy Edwards
Last updated on Dec 02, 2025 at 3:43 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Mason Jones
Air India found out the hard way that leaving a Boeing 737 at an airport comes with a monster bill.
The airplane, with the registration VT EHH, was parked at Kolkata Airport in 2012 and then allegedly abandoned.
No one moved it for nearly 13 years, and the airport kept charging for the space.
When the final cheque came in for the parking, it shocked everyone.
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Air India’s forgotten Boeing 737
The story starts back in 2012 when the an Air India Boeing 737 airplane was taken out of service and left at a remote parking bay at Kolkata Airport.
Over time, staff changed, and people who knew the 737’s origins slowly left, meaning the grounded jet quietly slipped through the cracks.
The airport, however, didn’t forget, and it continued to add parking fees.
By the time the jet was rediscovered, the total had climbed to an eye-watering ₹1 Crore, which comes to about $120,000.
The aircraft, which is still intact but has long since passed its flying days, was accidentally transformed into a time capsule of Air India’s older fleet.
Its faded paint and sealed cabin became a symbol of how easily a plane as big as a 737 can disappear inside massive airport operations.
Once officials realized what had happened, the only option was to move it out of it’s parking spot and pay the extortionate fee.
The parking fines and the plane’s new mission
Instead of sending it to a scrapyard, the airline decided the 737 deserved a second life.
A recovery team lifted the jet, loaded it onto massive transporters, and began the long road journey to Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru.
The plane won’t fly again, but it’s far from useless and it will now serve as a dedicated maintenance training platform, giving engineering teams real aircraft systems to work on without having to ground active planes.
After sitting still for more than a decade, the forgotten Boeing finally has a purpose again.
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Daisy Edwards is a Content Writer at supercarblondie.com. Daisy has more than five years’ experience as a qualified journalist, having graduated with a History and Journalism degree from Goldsmiths, University of London and a dissertation in vintage electric vehicles. Daisy specializes in writing about cars, EVs, tech and luxury lifestyle. When she's not writing, she's at a country music concert or working on one of her many unfinished craft projects.
