Dassault Falcon Jet (booth 1357 and static display) is to start investigating the potential for an upgraded version of its Falcon 900EX, dubbed the 900LX. The French manufacturer is conducting a test program until the end of this year to confirm whether adding winglets will produce a significant range increase.
Olivier Villla, senior vice-president civil aircraft, says: “The program is still in its feasibility phase, so we are not able to comment yet whether we are going to commit to this new model and whether it will add more than 200nm [370km] to the airframe.”
Villa says that the company will try to use the same winglet shape it used on its Falcon 2000LX, announced at the Paris air show this year. Dassault partnered with Aviation Partners to add high mach blended winglets and extra range to its 2000EX jet, but says it has made no partnership commitment yet as it assesses the validity of the 900LX program.
One month after the 2000LX program launch, National Air Service of Saudi Arabia signed a pre-purchase agreement for 20 Falcon 2000LXs (four firm orders and 16 options). The agreement was one of the largest ever in the region.
To accommodate global demand for its products, from 2009 the company will increase Falcon production to 120 aircraft a year in a vast expansion project that will double the size of its Charles Lindbergh Hall in Bordeaux-Merignac. Opened in 2003, Lindbergh Hall is the main assembly center of all Falcons and has capacity for 14 aircraft.
Ground breaking is scheduled to start in January 2008 and the facility will be completed and in operation by January 2009.
Source: Flight Daily News
