The government of Tajikistan has bought the Mexican government's unwanted and long-stored presidential B787-8(BBJ) for MXN1.66 billion Mexican pesos (USD92.3 million), Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) announced via his Twitter account.
The transaction marks the end of a lengthy saga in which several attempts have been made at offloading XC-MEX (msn 40695), which began in earnest shortly after AMLO took office in late 2018.
The B787-8 was acquired by President Felipe Calderón in 2012 for USD218 million and even though his successor, Enrique Peña Nieto, was critical of the transaction, he did not cancel it with delivery to the Fuerza Aérea Mexicana taking place in 2016. AMLO said the deal represented the previous governments' "unmoderated indolence and opulence", and vowed to never use the aircraft for his own travels. Consequently, XC-MEX was stored at Victorville and México City International airports as the government sought buyers. However, due to the aircraft's extensive modifications, it held little appeal to commercial operators. As a result, the government began considering placing the B787 with the revived, military-run Mexicana (1921) as a charter aircraft.
Ahead of the sale's completion, the aircraft was ferried back from Victorville to México City Int'l on March 10, 2023, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows.
AMLO said the funds raised will be used by the government body created to redistributed state funds to public welfare projects (Instituto para Devolver al Pueblo lo Robado - Indep), to build two hospitals in Mexico's southern states.
The government of Tajikistan does not currently operate any large civilian transport aircraft. AMLO said the transfer in ownership of the B787 should take place by the end of April 2023. Details of the transaction, including whether the aircraft will be placed on a commercial carrier's AOC or with the military, are set to be released once the deal is closed.
