The Boeing 747 That Has Been Sitting on a Paraguayan Apron for Years
A Boeing 747 freighter has been standing still at Guaraní International Airport in Minga Guazú, in Paraguay’s Alto Paraná department, since 2006. Registered 9Q-CGI, the aircraft has been caught in a customs dispute from the day it entered the country and has never flown again.
The aircraft, with serial number 21543, was built as a Boeing 747-269B and joined the Kuwait Airways fleet in 1979. Converted to a freighter configuration in 1995, it flew for the US carrier Kalitta/American International Airways before being transferred in October 2005 to Cargair International, based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, taking the registration 9Q-CGI.
The aircraft landed at Guaraní Airport in 2006 on a flight from Bolivia. Paraguay’s customs administration detained it, stating that the aircraft and the cargo on board had entered the country without meeting legal requirements and that no ownership or origin documents could be produced during the inspection. Smuggling charges were brought against the aircraft’s French owner, who maintained that he had brought it to Paraguay to have it painted.
An auction was ordered in 2011, but the sale never took place. A court ruled in the owner’s favour in 2017 and an administrative process was launched to allow the aircraft to be removed. Even so, there is no information indicating that it has left the airport. A Douglas DC-8 registered 3D-FRE, detained on similar grounds in 2005, also remains at the same airport.
The years spent on the ground brought the aircraft unexpected visibility. In August 2016, Volkswagen filmed at the airport for the South American launch campaign of its Amarok V6 pickup. In the commercial released in 2017, the pickup was attached to the aircraft using the same fittings employed by the airport’s own tow vehicles and pulled it along the runway in the rain. Volkswagen stated the weight of the towed aircraft at 180 tonnes.
