KL Airport Takes Out Newspaper Ad Seeking Owner of 3 Abandoned 747s

If anyone is missing a Boeing 747, you might want to try the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

On Monday, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd. took out ad space in the country's largest English-language newspaper asking the “untraceable” owner of three Boeing 747s to pick up the planes.

The notice, which featured a photo and description of each aircraft, announced that if the planes were not collected within two weeks they would be sold, reports Bloomberg.

“If you fail to collect the aircraft within 14 days of the date of this notice, we reserve the right to sell or otherwise dispose of the aircraft pursuant to the Civil Aviation Regulations 1996 and use the money raised to set off any expenses and debt due to us under the said regulations,” read the newspaper notice.

According to Zainol Mohd Isa, general manager of Malaysia Airports (Sepang) Sdn., operator of the international terminal, the Boeing 747s have been sitting at Kuala Lumpur's airport for over a year.

“We have been in communication with the so-called owner, but they have not been responding to take away the aircraft. That’s why we go through this process to legalize whatever actions we want to take,” he told Bloomberg. “We want to clear the area, we want to utilize our parking bay.”

Though Isa would not disclose how much the owners owed in parking fees and other charges, aviation consultants say the aging models now parked on Kuala Lumpur's tarmac have been out of production since 1991; even if sold, the old planes wouldn't fetch more than US$13 million apiece. This is nothing compared to the roughly US$380 million price tag of a brand-new Boeing 747.

Previously, the planes were leased to the cargo unit of Malaysia Airlines (MASkargo) by Air Atlanta Icelandic, however this contract expired five years ago. No one is really sure what has happened to the 747s between now and then, but MASkargo is not taking responsibility.

“We have no further involvement with those aircraft since then,” the company told Bloomberg in an email.