Vietnam is set to sell off an abandoned Boeing 727-200 aircraft that belonged to the now-defunct Cambodian carrier Royal Khmer Airlines (RKA).

Vietnamese media yesterday reported that the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) is taking steps towards auctioning off the aircraft, which was leased to little-known operator Air Dream when it was abandoned at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport in May 2007.

“On December 15, CAAV sent a text to Cambodian authorities to inform them of the decision to liquidate or relocate the Boeing 727-200 parked at Noi Bai airport,” Liu Van Doan, head of Vietnam Airlines’ legal department was quoted saying on Vietnamese online news site Nguoi Dua Tin yesterday.

“This decision to auction the aircraft was made after sending written notifications three times, asking the owner to move it out of the airport and pay the fees related to the use of the parking time. But no one received.”

The aircraft made a single journey from Siem Reap to Noi Bai Airport in May 2007 before being abandoned. Since then, it has racked up more than $605,000 worth of parking fees at Boi Nai International Airport, Vietnamese media reported.

The CAAV will deduct the parking costs from the proceeds made of the sale of the Air Dream-branded 727-200.

Keo Sivorn, director general at Cambodia’s State Secretariat of Civil Aviation said the aircraft was not the responsibility of the local aviation authority.

“This aircraft does no longer belong to the Cambodian registry because they [RKA] deregistered a long time ago,” he said.

Second-hand Boeing 727-200 aircraft, which were in production during the 1970s and early 1980s, are currently selling for between $200,000 and $2.4 million, according to global aircraft sales website, Globalaircraftmarket.com.