Earlier in the week I posted about how Kuala Lumpur Airport took out ads in newspapers to find the owners of three 747s which have been parked at Kuala Lumpur Airport for more than a year.
The airport claimed that parking fees hadn’t been paid for the planes, and that “exhaustive steps” had been taken to find the owners. The airport threatened that if the planes weren’t collected within 14 days, they reserved the right to sell or dispose of the aircraft.
Well, the owner of all three planes has stepped forward, and they’re not happy. Via a press release from SWIFT Air Cargo:
The owner of the (3) B747’s parked at KLIA is SWIFT Air Cargo and SWIFT has not abandoned the aircraft!
SWIFT’s management was stunned to read the following excerpts:
Quoting CNN, “SOMEONE ABANDONED THREE B747’S AT KUALA LUMPUR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN MALAYSIA.”
The Star newspaper article quoting MAHB (Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad) “‘exhaustive steps’ were taken to find a contact person but its efforts had not been successful.”
The Malay Mail Online summed up the situation perfectly in their headline“Will the owner who forgot his three Boeings please collect them from KILA before they are sold!”
Except SWIFT Air Cargo, is the owner and SWIFT very much has not forgotten its (3) B747’s parked at KLIA!
SWIFT is a Kuala Lumpur based, Malaysian company and the owner of the (3) B747’s. SWIFT has in its possession, original supporting documents to show ownership of the (3) Boeings, which were signed by the previous owner, then signed by SWIFT as the new owner, followed by Syed Amir Ibrahim of Syed Ibrahim & Co., solicitors of KL, Malaysia who was a witness to the Bill of Sale; effective June 8, 2015. Liu Chan and Lam, solicitors in Hong Kong signed the Statutory Declaration for the previous owner while Cheung Ka Wai Francis signed as a Notary Public of Hong Kong followed by Othman Abdullah, who stamped the Statutory Declaration as the vice consul of the Consulate General of Malaysia in Hong Kong.
All the many various supporting documents, clearly state that SWIFT is the owner of all (3) B747‘s!
SWIFT is understandably very concerned when MAHB (Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad) declares to the world that “exhaustive steps” were taken to find a contact person, yet SWIFT has been meeting with MAHB on a consistent basis.
The first meeting with MAHB was on June 17, 2015 with the Senior General Manager – Operations Services and with his supporting staff also present. Multiple meetings followed with each request for documentation supplied as requested. The last meeting occurred on October 12, 2015 with both the Chief Operating Officer and the General Manager present. Since then, SWIFT and MAHB have been communicating with letters and we were waiting for yet another meeting to present more documentation and information as requested by MAHB, when instead MAHB announced to the world that the owner of the (3) B747’s was missing.
Based on this evidence, SWIFT is unable to fathom the reason for MAHB’s declaration that it has taken “exhaustive steps” without being able to find a “contact person” when all along, SWIFT was fulfilling its obligations.
Alrighty then! So SWIFT Air Cargo took possession of these planes in June of this year and has apparently been in contact with the airport. What’s not clear, however, is if they’ve actually been paying the parking fees (which the airport claims they haven’t been). It sounds like they’re focused on “proving” to the airport they own the planes, though it doesn’t seem to solve the problem of the payments not being made to the airport.
An interesting turn of events, and I’m curious if we’ll see a statement from the airport authority responding to SWIFT Air Cargo’s statement.
They are still there, March 2020, and seems they will stay much longer.
They're still there! 14 Aug 2019.
L
So many unloved 747s
Two Boeing 747 jumbo jets sold in China Taobao auction - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-42076373
Another similar ad has popped up: wonder whether it is the same or different 747s
https://image-store.slidesharecdn.com/0e6511fd-0a4c-4d68-a0d9-874ca6b94570-original.jpeg
@Ben - Exclamation marks are important. ;)
For anyone who still cares, aircraft ownership is formally recorded and is of public record. No one buys a plane and doesn't record their ownership since the consequence of that sort of negligence is that, in fact, you're not the owner insofar as the world is concerned. In the US, for example, ownership is recorded at the FAA records office in Oklahoma City.
Think of it as a glorified registry of deeds, only it's for...
For anyone who still cares, aircraft ownership is formally recorded and is of public record. No one buys a plane and doesn't record their ownership since the consequence of that sort of negligence is that, in fact, you're not the owner insofar as the world is concerned. In the US, for example, ownership is recorded at the FAA records office in Oklahoma City.
Think of it as a glorified registry of deeds, only it's for airplanes and (believe it or not) their engines.
This stuff just isn't that complicated, trust me.
So this little story seems to be missing some important elements. Still.
@Ben (in the comments): 12 year old GIRL? Nice casual sexism.
The legal intricacies sound like the Malay version of the much beloved leftovers of the British Raj in India; much certifying, declaring (statuary and otherwise), notarising, stamping, signing and sealing of documents. All takes time don't you know!
No need to get your knickers in a knot - this is simply how Malaysia operates.
Why is a 12 year old girl writing this company's press releases?
...or they're proving ownership with the sole aim of selling the planes as-is-where-is to a scrapper for pennies on the dollar.
The long chain of signatures and endorsements sounds like a Nigerian 419 e-mail scam.
Well, you're not going to be paying the parking fees if there's still a dispute over whether you own the planes... it's just one more chip for leverage. You get past this paperwork and let us collect our planes, then we'll pay the parking. But why would we pay for parking if you don't think they are our planes?