The Mexican president has finally sold his unwanted Presidential Boeing 787-800 after four years of trying, with the jet being bought by the government of Tajikistan.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the Tajikistani government purchased the aircraft for approximately $92m, despite the jet originally being purchased for around $200m.
The aircraft had been configured to carry just 80 people, and is decked out with a full presidential suite – including a private bath. It was used by Mexico’s former president Enrique Peña Nieto after being delivered in 2014, and then stored since 2018.
Lopez Obrador refused to fly on it, citing it to be too luxurious, and instead typically takes commercial flights. There was even an symbolic raffle to try and offload the aircraft.
The Mexican President took to Twitter to announce the sale of the 787-800, and said: “It is important to know how people thought before, how the authorities acted like little pharaohs, and that should no longer be allowed.”
Planespotter.net lists the aircraft as “due” to be received by Somon Air, a private airline based at Dushanbe International Airport in Tajikistan.
Somon Air serves as the official carrier of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, alongside other high-ranking officials.
The carrier currently operates four Boeing 737-800s and two Boeing 737-900ERs.
Mexico plans to build two new hospitals with the proceeds of the sale.
