“Presidential plane still without a buyer” – Banobras

The plane’s sale process is the same as in December 2018, when Sedena informed Banobras that the TP01 would stop working for the Executive.

MEXICO CITY (Milenio) – To date, there is no record of potential buyers or advance payments to set aside the TP01 José María Morelos y Pavón aircraft, worth 2.5 billion pesos, according to the National Bank of Public Works and Services (Banobras).

It has been almost two years since the aircraft was offered through the UN to everybody; it went and returned from Boeing’s hangars in California, and now it is kept in the custody of the Army in Military Base 19. According to the Mexican Armed Forces, that means an average expense of 8 million pesos (400,000 USD) per month in maintenance. Until this December, it has represented an expense for the federation of approximately 40 million pesos.

The process of selling the plane began in December 2018, when Sedena informed Banobras that the TP01 would stop working for the Executive. On July 27, the head of Banobras reported an advance payment of one million dollars to buy the presidential plane; however, the agency in charge no longer has a record of this procedure.

The business outlook is not favorable since at least two aircraft in the market compete with the TP01: one in China and one in Switzerland. As revealed by MILENIO, in the process that lasted 20 weeks, there were 42 interested parties, including a Chinese citizen, an American tribe related to casinos, a multimillionaire, and companies dedicated to aircraft sales.

Of the 42, only 11 passed the filter applied, and in the end, only six submitted an offer to buy the aircraft. According to the UN, Aviator Global Corp was the only viable proposition, which was within the range of the appraisal price and met the price requirements considered. Former President Felipe Calderon purchased the presidential plane in 2012 for 218 million dollars, or 9 billion pesos; however, it is currently valued at $130 million.