Dassault Falcon focuses on growing Indian market

SAINT-CLOUD, France – Dassault Falcon is investing heavily in India to better serve its expanding customer base in the Indian Subcontinent and prepare for future growth. These investments will be highlighted, along with Falcon’s full line of large-cabin, long-range business jets, at Aero India which opens February 6, at Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bengaluru, India.

Dassault built its reputation for advanced high-performance aircraft in the region with the Indian Air Force which operates 50 Mirage 2000 fighters and, in January 2012, selected the new-generation Rafale for its Medium Multi-Role Aircraft (MMRA) mission. But this reputation for design excellence is also increasingly driven by advanced business aircraft like the Falcon 7X, the Falcon 900LX and the Falcon 2000 family.

Dassault is the Indian market leader for large cabin business jets, with approximately 20 aircraft currently in operation in the country, and expects to deliver several more over the next two years. Last autumn, Dassault opened a new Falcon liaison office in New Delhi to serve as a hub for its expanding business in the region. It also added a new Dassault Falcon sales manager to reinforce its Indian marketing team.

Enhancing Support Network in India

In July 2012, charter operator Taj Air was authorized to establish a Falcon Authorized Line Service Station at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai. The facility provides scheduled and unscheduled maintenance and inspections for Falcon 2000 and 2000DX/EX/LX aircraft and serves as a base for spare parts inventory.

Earlier, Dassault Falcon had named Mumbai-based Air Works India an Authorized Service Center for the Falcon 900EX and established spares distribution centers in Chennai and Mumbai. The company also set up a technical field office in Mumbai. These measures were the latest steps taken recently to enhance the Falcon support network in southern Asia, mirroring a strategy Dassault Falcon has been pursuing in other major emerging markets, such as China, Russia and Brazil.

“The Indian market is becoming more conducive to consistent growth and the investments in our support network will place us in an excellent position to benefit in the future,” said John Rosanvallon, President and CEO of Dassault Falcon.

Falcon Performance and Innovation

The performance of the Falcon fleet is well suited to Indian operating conditions, where short airfields, elevated runways and high temperatures are common. The Falcon 2000 series has been in particularly strong demand because of its large cabin, exceptional flexibility, low operating costs and range, which allows passengers to fly from the southern tip of India to the north in a single hop.

The Falcon 2000S, which combines the range and comfort of large cabin business jets with the economics and flexibility of a super midsize model, will be on display at the Bengaluru show for the first time. The 2000S will be shown with the new Falcon Cabin HD+ cabin management system, which distributes crisp high-definition audio and video content throughout the cabin in a user-friendly touch screen environment that gives passengers full control of all cabin features from wherever they’re sitting.

The 4,000 nm / 7,400 km Falcon 2000LXS, unveiled at the National Business Aviation Association convention in Orlando, Florida last October, will enable operators to access small airfields from destinations even farther afield than the 2000S. The 2000LXS will be available from 2014.

Falcons are just right for the long-range requirements of Indian customers, too. The 4,750 nm / 8,800 km Falcon 900LX combines long range, fuel economy and full fuel low-speed landing capability with exceptional hot-and-high performance. The 900LX will also be on display at Bengaluru with the FalconCabin HD+ cabin management system. The Falcon 900LX flies non-stop from Mumbai, the economic capital, to London City Airport, earth of London, a popular destination for Indian businessmen.

The top-of-the-line Falcon 7X, equipped with a full Digital Flight Control System, can fly nonstop from Mumbai to Cape Town or from any airport in India to London. And like the Falcon 900, it is the only jet in its category able to meet the challenging access requirements of London City Airport. The first Falcon 7X was delivered in India to Religare which is operating the aircraft for charter operation since 2010. The first Falcon, a Falcon 2000, was delivered in India in 1995 to a division of the Tata Group.