Over the last decade, stories about castles, villas and large swaths of land selling for what in some case is the equivalent of just a few dollars have consistently captured the attention of those who have dreams of switching up their life.
The caveat, of course, is that these types of properties are usually in extremely remote areas and come with significant upkeep costs. The low price often comes with the understanding that the taker will take on maintenance and repairs that cannot be done by the local municipality.
In the Andalusian city of Seville, an abandoned plane will be auctioned off under similar “whoever wants to deal with it can take it” terms, after local airport authorities declared a Piper PA-23 151/160 Apache plane that has been there since 2018 officially abandoned.
Piper PA-23 Apache plane abandoned at Seville Airport goes to auction
The specific model is a classic 1950s-era American twin-propeller light plane with room for one pilot and three passengers. It is not immediately clear how it ended up at Seville Airport (SVQ), but according to Spanish airport operator Aena, it exhausted efforts to locate its owner.
“We have tried to contact the owner many times,” an Aena spokesperson said in a statement to Euronews. “Since we didn’t manage to reach anyone, the airport announced the situation of this aircraft three times in the Official State Gazette, in case the owner came forward to claim it.”
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With several aviation enthusiasts repeatedly reaching out with questions about what would happen to the aircraft and whether they could buy it, Seville airport authorities finally opened up applications for participating in an auction that will take place at a yet-to-be-announced date.
The starting price will be €10 with an additional processing fee of €0.50. One of the conditions is signing one’s understanding that the plane cannot be used to fly, since Aena describes it as being in “bad condition.” At the moment, the airport is accepting applications to register as a bidder (once the auction opens, all bidders must be registered).
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Coffee shop and luxury hotel suite: other creative uses of abandoned planes
The person who ultimately comes home with the non-functional Apache plane will only be able to display it or use it as décor.
In Miami, Uruguay native Rosana Bentos used the fuselage of an old McDonnell Douglas MD-88 plane once used by Delta Air Lines to create a café she named Sky Coffee Buenos Aires.
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In Costa Rica, a 1965 Boeing 727 serves as the centerpiece of a jungle hotel (aviation fans can book the two-bedroom room built into the fuselage).
Meanwhile, the once-popular Jumbo Stay hotel and hostel built inside an old Boeing 747-200 in Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport (ARN) was closed down in March 2025 due to the owner’s overwhelming cost of upkeep.
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