Dassault to Highlight Success of Falcon 7X, 8X at Jet Expo 2016

Dassault Aviation is highlighting the growing success of its Falcon 7X and 8X large-cabin long range Falcon business jets at Jet Expo Moscow 2016, which opens on September 8 at the Vnukovo 3 business aviation complex.

The exhibit will feature the top-of-the-line Falcon 7X and the long range Falcon 900LX trijets, and spotlight the forthcoming entry-into-service of the new, ultra-long range Falcon 8X. The 8X was certified in June and will start deliveries within a few weeks.

Dassault is one of the leading suppliers of high-end executive jets in the Russian and CIS region. More than 50 Falcons have been delivered to customers in the region over the last decade, most of them large cabin Falcon 7X and 900 trijets. Since the last Jet Expo in September of 2015, Dassault has handed over five new 7Xs to Russian customers, including four in the first half of 2016. Several other Russian 7X deliveries are scheduled this year.

“This year Russia has been a bright spot in global business aviation, contrasting with the softness of the global market,” said Gilles Gautier, Vice President, Falcon Sales for Dassault Aviation. “There has been a lot of activity in the region and we are bullish about near and longer term prospects, especially once the economy gets going again.”

Russia and the neighboring region are a perfect market for business aviation, with a vast network of small hard to reach airfields underserved by commercial airlines and a large pool of businessmen, professionals and high-wealth individuals who must travel great distances to support their domestic and international activities.

“Falcon Jets, with their large, quiet cabins and incomparable robustness and short-field capability, are ideal for serving this market,” said Eric Trappier, Chairman & CEO of Dassault Aviation. “This is particularly true of our three engine models, which ensure added safety and shorter travel times over the vast often inhospitable confines of the Russian region. And no Falcon will be better suited to the exacting conditions of the market than the new Falcon 8X ultra-long range trijet.”
Set to enter service in the coming weeks, the 6,450 nm/11,945 km 8X will offer the greatest range and the longest cabin of any Falcon while featuring the same low operating economics and remarkable operating flexibility as the Falcon 7X from which it is derived. It will be capable of flying from Moscow to Los Angeles, Cape Town, Darwin or Rio de Janeiro to Moscow non-stop and landing at restricted airports like Gstaad and Lugano, Switzerland that are typically inaccessible to large business jets.

The new Dassault flagship will also offer the widest choice of cabin configurations in business aviation, including a large entryway that can be used as a fourth section for a personal sky lounge, a super spacious aft cabin, and an optional shower installation. And it will be available with Dassault’s revolutionary new FalconEye head up display, the first in the industry to combine synthetic and enhanced vision capabilities.

Russian operators have already placed several orders for the new Falcon 8X flagship , which will be handed over to its first Russian customer in 2017.

Russia is also expected to be a strong market for Dassault’s brand new Falcon 5X ultra-large body twinjet, currently in development. The 5,200 nm/9,630 km 5X will offer the highest and widest cabin on the market, yet provide sufficient range to fly from Moscow to New York or Hong Kong in a single hop. First deliveries of the new twin are anticipated in 2020.

Reinforcing After-Market Support

Optimizing after-market support is a top priority at Dassault, as evidenced by recent surveys that have placed the company at the top of the industry in terms of aircraft reliability, quality and dependability of support services.

To ensure it can continue delivering top-notch support to Russian operators, Dassault has significantly reinforced and expanded its regional service network in recent years. In addition to its Dassault Falcon Service’s satellite center at Vnukovo 3, which opened three years ago, the company is preparing to set up a new stock of spare parts at Vnukovo to further facilitate the distribution of spares within Russia. A new field service representative, to be based in Moscow, is also being assigned to the region.

For the last two years Russian customers have also been able to call on Falcon Response, Dassault’s new comprehensive suite of AOG services. Several operators from the region have benefited from the dedicated Falcon 900 missions made available by Falcon Response to handle AOG situations and if necessary provide alternative lift – an industry first.