VietNamNet Bridge – A Boeing 727-200 bearing the logo of the Cambodian Royal Khmer Airlines, which has been left abandoned for seven years at the Noi Bai International Airport, will be put up for auction.

As proposed by the Vietnam Airports Corporation, the airplane will be put up for auction in accordance with regulations stipulated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

Some analysts said that airplanes of the same generation as the Cambodian Boeing 727-200 could be sold for $850,000 to $2 million, depending on how well-protected they have been.

However, according to Vietnamese agencies, auctioning airplanes is an unusual activity in Vietnam, and it is still unclear if the airplane will be sold whole or in separate parts.

A source said it is highly possible that Boeing 727-200 would be sold as scrap iron, because it cannot be used as an airplane anymore.

In 2011, CAAV said the aircraft could not be sold because there was no regulation on airplane auctions.

The 727-200 was a successful commercial model, but Boeing stopped manufacturing the model a long time ago.

In 1965-1967, when the model was launched, an aircraft was priced at $4.2 million. In 1982, Boeing 727-200s sold for $22 million.

The source noted that Vietnamese airlines do not use the aircraft model for commercial purposes, so there is no need to buy spare parts.

Airplane trading websites Controller and Aircraft24 show that a B727-200 could be sold for up to $2.2 million, or VND46 billion, if it is still can be put into use and is in good condition.

In general, aircraft with less than 30,000 hours of use, manufactured prior to 1980, can be sold for a good price. Others would be valued at less than $1 million, or VND21 billion.

An official from CAAV said that in principle, the aircraft sellers could expect to receive $200,000-$1.6 million from the sale of the aircraft in good condition, after deducting expenses (fees for legal procedures, auctioning fees, asset appraisal fees and the seven-year storage fee, estimated at VND12 billion, or $605,800).

However, if the airplane is sold as scrap, the profit would be much lower.

In September 2014, an advertisement about the sale of an airplane with similar features appeared on a website.

The plane was a 1981 727-200F with a broken engine, that was offered for $165,000, with fees paid by buyers. However, the seller could not be reached via the contact numbers shown on the website.

US$1 = VND21,000

Phuoc Ha