A Cambodian aviation
official said Wednesday that the government would not attempt to recover
a Boeing 727-200 jet operated by a now-defunct Cambodian airline that
has been sitting at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport for the past
seven years.
According to Vietnamese media, the aircraft—the sole
plane flown by Siem Reap-based charter operator Air Dream—will be
auctioned off to cover the more than $600,000 it has accumulated in
unpaid parking fees.
It was grounded at the Noi Bai airport for maintenance in 2007 and subsequently abandoned on the tarmac.
On
Wednesday, VietnamNet, an online news site, reported that the Civil
Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) had decided to auction off the
plane after multiple requests that it be moved—sent to Cambodian
authorities as well as Air Dream’s parent company, Royal Khmer
Airlines—went unanswered.
“Luu Van Doan, head of the CAAV’s Legal
Department, said the agency would set up an auction council to sell the
Royal Khmer Airlines aircraft,” the VietnamNet article said.
“As
the aircraft is obsolete, it may be auctioned as scrap. The revenue
will be deducted from the auction procedure cost and $605,800 of parking
fees.”
Royal Khmer Airlines, a privately owned airline that
operated flights between Cambodia, Vietnam and South Korea, also closed
in 2007.
Keo Sivorn, director-general of the State Secretariat of
Civil Aviation (SSCA), Cambodia’s aviation regulator, said that because
Royal Khmer Airlines was no longer registered with the SSCA, the
government had no responsibility for the plane, nor any intention to
retrieve it.
“After the company stopped operating, it was
withdrawn from our list,” he said. “If this plane was removed from our
list, our duty is finished.”
Mr. Sivorn added that Royal Khmer
Airlines was owned by a South Korean businessman named Song Dong-zu,
whose whereabouts were unknown to the SSCA.
“Now, it is the duty
of Vietnam to look for the owner, or, if Vietnam wants to sell it for
scrap, that’s up to Vietnam,” he said.
Source: https://www.cambodiadaily.com
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