The abandoned Cambodian aircraft at Vietnam's Noi Bai International Airport. Photo by VEF

Vietnam to auction Cambodia plane abandonded at Hanoi Airport

| 10 September 2016 

The airplane has been staying at Noi Bai International Airport since May 2007.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport has proposed to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to allow the Airports Corporation of Vietnam to auction a Boeing 727-200 that has been left at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi for around 10 years.

The aircraft, which was previously owned by Cambodia’s Royal Khmer Airlines, has been parked at the airport since May 2007 following a technical malfunction, Vietnamplus reported Friday.

Noi Bai has sent several requests to the Cambodian carrier, asking them to remove it from the airport and pay related parking fees but to no avail.

In October 2014, the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) sent a notice to Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry and the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation of Cambodia (SSCA) asking them to take the plane back. The CAAV also posted the notice on its website in both Vietnamese and English, indicating that the airplane would be treated as an abandoned one if its owner does not take it back.

One month later, the SSCA replied that Cambodian authorities have revoked the license for operating the abandoned airplane previously granted to Royal Khmer Airlines. And the airplane has been removed from the list of aircrafts which carry Cambodia’s nationality since October 13, 2008. Therefore, the CAAV could handle the abandoned airplane according to Vietnam’s law.

In early June this year, an assessment team set up by the CAAV concluded that the airplane has been seriously degraded and it can't be recovered for normal operations.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport also asked the prime minister to allow the Airports Corporation of Vietnam to hire a consultant to set the starting price for the auction of the abandoned airplane.

In October last year, Vietnam Aviation Academy proposed to the Ministry of Transport and CAAV to allow it to use the abandoned aircraft for training activities.