Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has announced the sale of the country’s presidential plane to the government of Tajikistan for US$92 million. This sale fulfills a long-standing campaign promise and his preaching of austerity. The president has insisted that the costly maintenance of the plane “contradicts the republican austerity” that he exhibits as a pillar of his government.
The transaction was sealed for 1,659 million pesos, an amount in accordance with the official appraisal, and was carried out between the development bank Banobras and the State Investment Committee of Tajikistan. The money from the sale will be used to build two hospitals in the southern towns of Tlapa (Guerrero State) and Tuxtepec (Oaxaca), two of Mexico’s poorest areas.
The Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 was acquired towards the end of the administration of former President Felipe Calderón and delivered during the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto, the only one to use it on his numerous international tours. The aircraft was for sale and has been flying only for maintenance purposes since López Obrador took office in 2018. It was offered to countries such as Argentina and some private buyers, but negotiations failed because, according to the president, it was a “very extravagant and very luxurious” aircraft. López Obrador even offered to raffle it off in 2021 by putting lottery tickets on sale, although in the end the prize consisted of an amount equivalent to the price of the plane.