The government of the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico plans to install 200 slot machines at the island’s main international airport in hopes of generated badly needed tax income.
Officials are looking to the deployment at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport outside the capital of San Juan to pump at least $1.8 million a year into a treasury drained by a decade-long economic crisis that has saddled the government with $70 billion of public debt it may not be able to repay.
The airport’s Best Western hotel had been home to a small, money-losing casino that closed in 2009.
Unlike that venue, which was open to the public, play on the new machines will be restricted to ticketed airline passengers.
