Aviation News Item: 01169

12th Jun 2009

Source: fly-corporate.com

During a speech given today on the occasion of the Paris Air show, Charles Edelstenne, Chairman & CEO, Dassault Aviation reminded attendees that after four years of unprecedented growth in business aviation, the industry "is now faced with a profound crisis. Nearly 17,000 jobs have already been lost at manufacturers in both North and South America."

He indicated that "despite a healthy Falcon order book", cancellations and postponements have forced the company to scale down production. "For the first quarter alone, we posted a negative balance of -27 orders. There is nothing in the current situation and forecasts to indicate that any significant improvement could be hoped for before the end of the year. We anticipate about 80 deliveries in 2009, but the present climate means that any prediction can only be extremely approximate."

Edelstenne also blamed a weak dollar against the euro for keeping the French manufacturer "far from the 1 for 1 parity situation which would place us on an equal footing with our North American competitors".

Falcon Program Updates

• Falcon 7X
  The Falcon 7X aircraft in service now total more than 12,000 flying hours. The aircraft was recently qualified to operate from London City Airport.
• Falcon 2000LX
  Dassault delivered the first aircraft in early May, after receiving both EASA and FAA certification.
• Falcon 900LX
  Development is well under way and production has been launched. Flight testing will begin in the first half of 2010, with certification and deliveries scheduled for the second half of the year.
• SMS
  Dassault continues the development process. "It is still too early to reveal the broad outlines of this future aircraft."
• EASy Phase 2
  This new version of the Falcon cockpit was launched last year. It comprises a certain number of new functions, such as a synthetic vision system.
• Falcon Support
  Dassault has completed the ramp-up of its Saint-Cloud Technical Center, which supplements those in Teterboro, New Jersey and Boise, Idaho. Coordinated operation by these three sites means that the manufacturer will be able to respond to queries round the clock.
  Additionally, in 2008, Dassault Falcon announced the creation of two new maintenance centres in Sorocaba, Brazil, and Reno, Nevada. The first of them has just been approved, while the second has been operational for several weeks now. Maintenance capacity at DFS-Paris and at Little Rock have also been boosted.
• Environment
  The main aim of next-generation Falcons is to achieve a significant reduction in the environmental impact of the business jets. The work launched last September under the European Clean Sky initiative is a part of this strategy. This work will use technology demonstrators to validate innovations in the fields of on-board energy management, advanced aircraft controls, drag reduction and eco-design.

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