Dassault Aviation claims to have taken over 50% of business-jet sales in its market sector in 1997 - for the first time.
Sales in 1997 totalled 98 aircraft, with the balance between the four products - the Falcon 50EX, 900B, 900EX and 2000 - "about equal", according to Dassault Falcon Service director-general Jean-Francois Georges.
Dassault hopes to retain around a 45% share of its sector of the market, in which it predicts a growth of between 5% and 6% a year, mainly for long-range aircraft. "We are not concerned about the new arrivals from Boeing and Airbus," says Georges. "They will do more damage to the Gulfstream and Bombardier Global Express."
The collapse of Asian financial markets is producing "real concern", however. A company source says that, while the main market remains the USA, "-we were hoping to see some real growth in Asia this year. Now, that is far from certain."
Meanwhile, Dassault is working to reduce delivery times below the current 18 months, following the sales success in 1997. "The ideal for us is to get it down to nine months", it adds. The entire production for 1998 and for "most of 1999" is sold out, he adds.
Dassault Falcon Service is launching an initiative at its Le Bourget centre to try to reduce what Georges says is a "15-year difference" between the way business aviation is integrated into the economies of the USA and of Europe.
The scheme, called "La Belle Falcon", is aimed at bringing together interested Falcon operators at Le Bourget to improve resources and customer service. "We're creating La Belle Falcon to show our customers that a business aircraft is a tool, and not just a luxury item," Georges adds.
Source: Flight International
