A weathered Boeing 737-200 (registration VT-EHH) that had been sitting in a remote corner of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport (Kolkata) since 2012 was finally dismantled and removed on 14 November 2025. The 43-year-old airframe — once part of Indian Airlines and later converted to a freighter for India Post — was sold and moved by road to Bengaluru where it will be used as a maintenance-training mock-up.
The aircraft must have slipped from Air India’s paperwork, as for the airline the aircraft seemed vanished. Airport staff only prompted its rediscovery when they asked the carrier to remove the parked fuselage. The omission triggered an internal audit within the airline.
Kolkata Airport had been charging parking and apron fees during the years the jet sat idle. When the matter was resolved, the airport recovered nearly rupee 1 crore (about US$120k) in unpaid charges for the long stay. Airport authorities say the space vacated by VT-EHH will help free land for future hangars and other infrastructure.
The aircraft was cut down (wings and tail removed) and moved in sections by road to a Bengaluru facility and will be used for training purposes.
?India’s “Ghost Plane” Was Missing for Years?
Air India didn’t just “misplace paperwork.”
They lost an entire Boeing 737 for years – and no one noticed.
? Here’s how a whole aircraft vanished from the books pic.twitter.com/bfrjGeHZhc
— Abhi Nav (@ispeakweb3) November 29, 2025
A Boeing 737 sat unnoticed at Kolkata airport for nearly 13 years, completely forgotten by Air India. The plane, which had flown passengers and cargo, was eventually rediscovered and moved to Bengaluru to train future aircraft engineers.#AirIndia #Boeing #Kolkata pic.twitter.com/GI0muytE3o
— MediaOne World (@MediaOneWorld) December 2, 2025