Mexico finally finds buyer for luxury presidential plane once called an ‘insult to the people’
- The government of Tajikistan has agreed to buy the Boeing 787 Dreamliner – which comes with an executive bedroom and private bath – for US$92 million
- The proceeds will be used to build two hospitals in impoverished regions of southern Mexico
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Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he has finally found a buyer for a luxury presidential plane that he once called an “insult” to the people – the government of Tajikistan.
The Central Asian nation agreed to buy the Boeing 787 Dreamliner for 1.66 billion pesos (US$92 million), Lopez Obrador announced late on Thursday after several years of trying to sell the plane.
Lopez Obrador, a leftist austerity crusader, had been vowing to get rid of the aircraft since his 2018 election campaign, saying “not even Donald Trump has a plane like that.”
“I would have felt shame, I say it sincerely, to use this plane,” Lopez Obrador said in a video announcing its sale, sitting next to the aircraft.
The proceeds will be used to build two hospitals in impoverished regions of southern Mexico, he said.
The aircraft, customised with an executive bedroom, private bath and seating for 80 people, was bought for about US$218 million during former president Felipe Calderon’s 2006-2012 term in office.
The only one who used it was his successor, Enrique Pena Nieto.
Sell, trade or rent? Mexico just can’t get rid of its presidential plane
In September 2020, Lopez Obrador’s government held a symbolic raffle aimed at raising funds roughly equivalent to the plane’s value.
Last year he announced that the plane would be made available to rent for birthday and wedding parties.
