The Mexican president offers the presidential plane to rent for parties

Mexican Air Force One.

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Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he has now essentially given up his fictional attempt to sell Air Force One and will rent it out for weddings or private parties.

Lopez Obrador admitted that the government was unable to sell the Boeing 787, which he described as very luxurious, and refuses to use it.

Instead, the president said he would give the plane to an army company that will operate Mexico City's new Filipe Angeles airport.

The plane will be parked there and available to those who wish to rent it from the public to hold parties on board.

“The rental fee is expected to pay for its expenses and maintenance,” Obrador said. “It will be available to the public for anyone who wants to marry, invite friends and family, have a birthday party, or his daughters when they come of age.”

Mexican families often throw elaborate parties for their daughters when they turn 15.

Since 2018, Lopez Obrador has tried to lure companies and executives to buy the plane, even holding a symbolic lottery on it, but his efforts were unsuccessful.

Lopez Obrador prides himself on his austerity, uses commercial flights during his travels, and has only made one trip abroad.

He said it was difficult to sell the plane, because it was very specialized and custom-made.

He said the government was still open to offers to buy the plane, but after nearly three and a half years, that prospect seemed far-fetched.

The plane was purchased for $200 million and used by former President Enrique Peña Nieto.

It was difficult to sell because it can only accommodate 80 people, and contains a full presidential suite, with a private bathroom.

Experts say that reconfiguring the plane into a typical passenger plane, carrying up to 300 passengers, would be very costly.

The Mexican president asserted that his administration had sold most of the luxury and bulletproof cars used by previous presidents.

Lopez Obrador has shunned power since taking office last December, using a small Volkswagen and living in a modest apartment.

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