As we all know, Malev spectacularly collapsed last week. As a result, people have been moving quickly to recover assets – such as aircraft.
International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) was quick to repossess their equipment. But then a question appears… where to park it? Keeping it on Hungarian soil was not an option due to a possibility that the Hungarian Government may attempt possession.
So it’s off to Shannon Airport which is a home to a US Pre-clearance area, a terminal, a maintenance base, and one of the favourite places for lessors to dump their equipment at the end of lease or park their equipment whilst they prepare it for another user.
15 of the 22 Malev Aircraft (most the 737 fleet) therefore have moved home from Budapest to Shannon to park up for a while, so that if Malev can resume operations the aircraft can head back to Budapest. For now, they’re getting a taste of the Irish winter… and to see if Malev can be rescued in any shape or form.
Or not.
At the time of operations being halted, Malev operated 6 Boeing 737-600 series, 7 Boeing 737-700 series, 5 Boeing 737-800 series and 4 Bombardier Dash-8 Q400’s, and employed over 2,600 people.