“Those are our 747s”, Says Air Cargo Startup

11th Dec 2015

It seems that the owner of the three Boeing 747 jets that were seemingly abandoned at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport has finally been revealed and it is less than happy that Malaysia Airports wants to auction them.

A few days ago KLIA has even placed an ad in the biggest newspaper in English in Malaysia The Star, saying it will sell the jets unless the owner reveals himself.

Owner is Swift Air Cargo

According to the head of Swift Air Cargo Blue Peterson, a former pilot at Malaysia Airlines, his company legally bought the planes and he is “stunned” by the claims that their owner is untraceable.

The chief executive officer of Air Cargo Swift said:

I woke up on December 7 and was stunned to see they were searching for the owner.

Peterson also said that, despite his efforts, the airport management time and time refused to recognize his company as the owners of the three jets in question. According to the 55 year old ex-pilot, he has all the relevant paperwork and statements from the previous owner.

He did not want to reveal who owned the 747s before Swift Air Cargo.

Neither Kuala Lumpur International Airport, nor Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad issued a reply to Mr. Peterson’s claim of ownership over the planes.

“We Have Not Abandoned the Planes!”

Swift Air Cargo also issued a statement about the incident and posted it to its website. In the statement, the company said:

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.

In a statement, Swift also said:

The owner of the (3) B747’s parked at KLIA is Swift Air Cargo and SWIFT has not abandoned the aircraft!

As to why the airport has not recognized the startup as the owner of the three planes, Peterson believes this to be a tactic to recoup overdue landing, parking and other fees that the earlier owner of the aircraft left them.

He said:

It’s probably a delay game. They want to sell off the planes to make up the parking fees owed by the previous owner, but I have told them many times that I am willing to sit down, negotiate and pay part of it. Well, this is Malaysia. I have given them a lot of respect but I don’t know what to do. I’ll just let my lawyers handle it now.