Conceding that the market has suffered a “significant slowdown in the U.S. and Europe in the past few months,” Dassault chairman and CEO Charles Edelstenne, speaking here at a breakfast gathering yesterday, noted nevertheless that the order book at Dassault Falcon remains “solid, with very few cancellations.” He said that the company has sold 500 aircraft worldwide over the past three years. Company patriarch Serge Dassault was on hand to observe the proceedings and renew old acquaintances, having flown here in his Falcon 7X.
There are 18 Falcon 7Xs in service (the fleet leader has logged 1,300 hours and 600 landings), and more than 100 currently in various stages of construction; serial number 80 is in final assembly in Merignac. CAE’s facilities in Morristown, N.J., and Burgess Hill, England, have trained 170 Falcon 7X pilots and 250 technicians.
With fuel reaching a peak of $150 per barrel earlier this year, it could be said that of all business jet salesmen, Dassault’s are truly in their element. The company’s well-worn assertion that its Falcons are 40 percent more fuel efficient than the competition has never had better traction than now, even if fuel prices have retreated from their summer highs. To put this into perspective, Dassault presented figures showing the 900LX’s fuel cost as $1,660 per hour versus $2,500 per hour for the GIV, a difference of $840, which on the Falcon 900LX pie chart of operating costs covers airframe and engine maintenance and insurance premiums. “It’s like getting free maintenance and insurance with the Falcon,” noted an official.
