Dassault Aviation aims to secure Chinese registration for its entire family of Falcon business jets and sell its first aircraft in China by year-end.
Director of sales for Asia Carlos Brana says the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) visited the Falcon factory in June as part of Dassault’s application to certificate all Falcon jets that are in production. “We’re thinking to have the entire family of aircraft certificated by year-end or middle of next year,” says Brana.
Dassault has been working on trying to sell its first Falcon in China for several years and industry sources say it is close to finalising a deal for a Falcon 2000, although the customer is still considering offers from rival manufacturers. Brana says he has not yet received a firm commitment, but expects to sell a new aircraft in the Falcon 2000-size category or larger by year-end, with delivery in late 2006.
Dassault believes winning Chinese certification will make it easier for potential customers to commit to acquiring aircraft. The manufacturer actually began working on CAAC certification seven years ago, but the process was then halted. Last year Dassault resumed the effort, and meetings with the CAAC were held in both China and France.
Source: Flight International
