Malaysian authorities have taken out a newspaper advert to find the owner or owners of three jumbo jets that have apparently been abandoned at the country’s main international airport.
Officials were forced to take the unusual step after growing tired of seeing the unclaimed Boeing 747-200F planes sitting idle on the tarmac at Kuala Lumpur International Airport for more than a year.
They warned that the double-decker planes will be auctioned or sold for scrap if they are not claimed within 14 days.
According to the advert posted, Malaysia Airports has been unable to identify the owner or owners of the jumbo jets.
The ad stated: ‘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.’
Zainol Mohd Isa, general manager of Malaysia Airports, told Free Malaysia Today the airport has attempted to contact the last-known owners of the planes, two passenger aircraft and a single cargo jet.
He said the last-known owners are ‘international’ and not Malaysian.
He added: ‘I don’t know why they are not responding. There could be many reasons. Sometimes it could be because they have no money to continue operations.’
According to online searches of the plane's registration numbers, TF-ARM, TF-ARN, and TF-ARH, the aircraft belong to Air Atlanta Icelandic.
However, the company said it no longer owns the planes after selling them in 2008.
The newspaper advert features a photo of each plane and asks the owner or owners to call Malaysian Airports.
If they are claimed before the December 21 deadline, the owner or owners won't be able to escape without penalty.
Officials are seeking payment for landing and parking fees and other charges, Free Malaysia Today reported.
If the planes aren't claimed they will be sold to recoup the charges.
Zainol told Free Malaysia Today that planes have been abandoned at the country's main airport before, including one that was bought and transformed into a restaurant.
It is not the first time this has happened at the airport, Zainol added.
In the past decade a few other planes, mostly smaller aircraft, were abandoned.
He said an aircraft that was abandoned in the 1990s was eventually bought and turned into a restaurant in a Kuala Lumpur suburb.
KLIA was the origin of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared after taking off on March 8, 2014 with 239 passengers and crew aboard in what remains one of aviation’s greatest mysteries.
Malaysia earlier this year confirmed that a wing part found on the French island of La Reunion in the Indian Ocean was from the plane. But no further wreckage has been found despite an intensive Australian-led oceanic search.
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