The Vietnamese government has officially acquired full ownership of an aircraft abandoned at Hanoi’s international airport by a Cambodian airline a decade ago and will put it up for auction, Vietnamese media reported yesterday.

The plane, which belonged to Royal Khmer Airlines, had been leased to Siem Reap-based charter operator Air Dream when it was abandoned at the airport in May 2007 following a technical malfunction.

Both Royal Khmer Airlines and Air Dream went out of business later that year. Vietnam’s government has said it will auction the ageing plane and use the proceeds to pay off the $600,000 in parking fees it has accrued during its decade on the tarmac.