FILW - This Dec. 3, 2018 file photo provided by the Mexican Presidential press office shows the presidential airplane at the presidential hangar at Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City. Mexico is trying to sell its luxurious presidential jet to Canada, but will raffle the plane off if the Canadians don't want it, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Mexican Presidential press office via AP, File)
MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been trying to sell his presidential jet for over a year and hasn’t found a buyer for it. So, he’s resorting to an interesting tactic to offload it: a plane raffle.
The plane was purchased by his predecessor and López Obrador vowed to never step foot in it, saying it was wasteful.
“There would be 6 million tickets, you see, each one would be 500 pesos” which translates to around $25, López Obrador said at his daily news conference Friday as reported by The Washington Post.
Added up, that means the Mexican Government would make about 3 billion pesos, or around $150 million.
Though the tickets have been designed and the “Grand Special Drawing” raffle date proposed for Cinco de Mayo, López Obrador says there still is no certainty on whether the raffle would happen. He did say a final decision would be reached by mid-February.
That uncertainty didn’t stop the internet from dreaming up what they would do with the nearly 200-foot plane. Shortly after the announcement on Friday, the internet fell in love with the idea and immediately started creating memes and planning on what they would do with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Twitter lit up with hashtag including #AvionPresidencial (Presidential plane), #SiMeGanoElAvion (If I won the plane) #NoEsBroma (It’s not a joke).
“If I won the plane, I’d live in it. It’s bigger than my apartment,” one person wrote.
According to the Post, the plane sat unused last year while maintenance and storage costs rose to more than $1 million. That wouldn’t be an issue for the winner, though. At least for a few years as López Obrador promised “servicing for the plane for one or two years.”
The winner would receive “servicing for the plane for one or two years.”