Air India has discovered, thirteen years late, that a decommissioned aircraft still listed under its ownership had been left parked at Kolkata airport, despite having effectively disappeared from the airline’s internal records.

The aircraft, a Boeing seven three seven, two hundred, came to the airline’s attention only after airport authorities contacted Air India in November and demanded that an abandoned plane be removed to clear space for planned airport infrastructure.

Air India initially denied that the aircraft belonged to the carrier, but an internal review later confirmed that it did.

According to reporting on the internal review, Air India’s chief executive, Campbell Wilson, acknowledged in a staff memo that the airline had no record of the aircraft’s existence until the airport’s request forced the issue.

The case was treated as highly unusual not because disposing of old aircraft is rare, but because the airline did not realise the jet was still on its books.

Kolkata airport levied accumulated parking and related charges totalling close to ten million rupees, which Air India paid.

The incident highlighted administrative failures linked to staff turnover, document management lapses, and the complex history of the aircraft through corporate changes.

The plane’s history stretches back to its original registration in nineteen eighty-two under Indian Airlines, before being absorbed into Air India’s fleet after the Indian Airlines–Air India merger in two thousand seven.

It later flew in cargo and postal roles, and was eventually taken out of service in two thousand twelve.

It then remained unused in a remote area of Kolkata airport for more than a decade.

The aircraft has now been moved to Bengaluru, where it will be repurposed as a ground-based training platform for aircraft maintenance personnel.