More than four years after announcing that he would get rid of the luxurious presidential Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, finally found an interest in the aircraft, the government of Tajikistan.
Obrador announced on Thursday that the Fuerza Aérea Mexicana Boeing 787 was sold to the Asian country for US$92 million.
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It is the end of a long journey in which the left-wing president sought a way out to put an end to the widebody jet, acquired in 2012 by former president Felipe Calderón.
The aircraft, a 787-8, was assembled in 2009 and was maintained by Boeing itself in its fleet. In 2014 the jet was sent to Mexico with the registration XC-MEX, but underwent a retrofit to serve as the country’s presidential aircraft.
Although it cost about US$ 115 million at the time, the 787-8 ended up consuming almost twice as much to be adapted for VVIP use.
Raffle
It was Calderón’s successor, Enrique Peña Nieto, who most used the aircraft in his travels during his term until 2018.
Obrador refused to fly the TP-01, as the aircraft was designated. He tried to find buyers in companies and the government and, without success, suggested a “raffle” to get rid of the Boeing.
“After a long time, we managed to sell the plane,” said López Obrador in a video recorded inside the 787. “We are going to use the money from the sale of the plane to build two hospitals,” he said.
