Former presidential aircraft of Mexico
Dreamliner to win in a raffle
Mexico couldn't sell the luxurious Dreamliner, which was bought by a former government. But the current president has an idea how to get rid of it finally.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador presents the raffle ticket.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador presents the raffle ticket.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador or Amlo, as the Mexicans call their president, always has unconventional ideas. For example, he stopped the construction of Mexico City’s huge new airport because he thought the project was far too expensive. Instead, the capital is getting a second airport by expanding the Santa Lucía military airport. Or he put the Dreamliner up for sale, which one of his predecessors bought.
There is only one problem. Attempts to sell the nine-year-old Boeing 787-8 with registration XC-MEX and a luxurious interior have failed. But López Obrador is not discouraged by this. He recently brought up the idea of raffling the VIP aircraft. He is serious about this. On Tuesday (28 January) he already presented the design of the raffle tickets.
Money for hospitals
Mexico once paid 218 million dollars for the Dreamliner. Experts estimated its value at 150 million, but the aircraft was last put up for sale for 130 million and still didn’t attract any buyer. López Obrador now wants to bring in at least that much money with the raffle. Six million tickets for 500 pesos each (the equivalent of around 24 euros) are to be sold.
The president of Mexico also has an idea for the use of the money collected. It is to be used to equip hospitals with better equipment that will treat poor people in particular.