Air India accidentally owned a plane for years—just found out and sold it

India Nov 21, 2025

Turns out, Air India had a Boeing 737-200 sitting at Kolkata airport since 2012—and they didn't even realize it was theirs.
The plane got lost in the shuffle of airline mergers and privatization, only coming to light when airport authorities asked them to move it.

How does an airline forget a whole plane?

This particular aircraft started with Indian Airlines in 1982, bounced around between Alliance Air and India Post, then slipped through the cracks during corporate transitions.
After Tata Group took over Air India in 2022, the airline started digging up forgotten assets like this one.
They sold the plane last week (buyer's still a mystery), but it's a reminder: big companies can lose track of stuff—even something as huge as an airplane.