‘Abandoned’ plane belongs to Cambodian airline: official

Officials say the plane could belong to a Cambodian airline

An aviation official Tuesday repudiated a local newspaper’s report that relevant agencies have yet to identify the owner of a Boeing 727 that has been left idle at a Hanoi airport for the past several months.

Vo Cuong, head of the Aviation Transport Division under the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, told Thanh Nien the plane, which had landed at Hanoi-based Noi Bai International Airport last year, belonged to the Royal Khmer Airlines of Cambodia.

Cuong said the Boeing 727-200 had to remain at Noi Bai airport for several months due to a technical problem.

Royal Khmer Airlines asked to park the aircraft at the airport in a note to the Vietnam Civil Aviation Administration and has paid all appropriate parking fees, he continued.

Tuesday morning, a local newspaper reported a plane carrying a Cambodian flag and the label Air Dream on its fuselage had been abandoned for over the past six months.

The newspaper said it couldn’t find information about an airline called Air Dream in Cambodia, adding there were no references of Air Dream on the websites of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Air Dream is a charter airline based in Cambodia.

Its Boeing 727-200 is operated by Royal Khmer Airlines.

Reported by Xuan Toan