Mexico has $120 million offer for presidential plane

The Mexican government announced on Monday that it has a $120 million offer for the presidential airplane that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been trying to sell since taking office in late 2018.

The potential buyer, who government officials declined to reveal, would pay in cash and medical equipment. The offer was made in April.

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Sales of tickets in a symbolic raffle for the plane have also resumed after a monthslong pause caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly a quarter of the 6 million $25 tickets have been sold.

Each of the 100 winners will collect about $1 million.

López Obrador wants to sell the plane, which he views as an extravagance. The president flies commercial, including for his first trip abroad last week to Washington with layovers both ways.

The custom-made Boeing 787 was purchased for $200 million under his predecessor, Enrique Peña Nieto. It has been difficult to sell because it is configured to carry only 80 people and has a full presidential suite with a private bath. Experts say it would be costly to reconfigure into a typical passenger jet that would carry up to 300 passengers.

Associated Press