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Aviation History
1997
1997 - 1306.PDF
frate aircraft Dassault's Falcon range of business jets are at the core of its strategy Doing the business Dassault Aviation strategy for beating the recession is now bearing fruit n AS FRANCE'S only business-jet manu facturer, Dassault Aviation, is compet ing in a market that has become particularly hard fought. Not only are manufacturers in the USA introducing new products across-the-board, but others elsewhere in the world are knocking on the door of the tra ditional suppliers. The business decisions made by Dassault Aviation during the recession are proving to have been right, however, such that today the Bor deaux-based manufacturer accounts for around one-third of all business-jet sales, with increased sales having been achieved through a clever blend of introducing the right products without having to spend excessive amounts of develop ment money. The success of die initiatives can be judged by the fact that Dassault Aviation now accounts for around 20% of the total figure for France's civil-aircraft and space exports, with annual sales of Fr5.5 billion ($950 million). The strategy has been based around fielding three new aircraft, the all-new coast-to-coast Falcon 2000, and extended range, upgraded developments of the existing long-range Falcon 900 and its smaller cousin, die Falcon 50. This has been coupled with a marketing effort diat has seen a growth in orders, to 40 aircraft of all types in 1996, with predictions that the figure for this year will be even higher. Most of Dassault Aviation's sales are to the USA. The improvement in its fortunes, howev er, also depends on penetrating the fast-growing Far East market. Jean-Francois Georges, Dassault Aviation's director general, civil aircraft, says that business jets are needed in the area "...because there is a growing need for reliable, comfortable transportation where business is expanding rapidly, but aircraft and airports are often crowded". Dassault Aviation has therefore teamed with China Xinhua to form a new company, Oriental Falcon Jet Service, to offer initially a single Falcon 50 for charter. "We expect that to expand to ten aircraft within a year", says Georges. INCREASED PRODUCTION Such has been the demand for aircraft that Dassault Aviation is considering increasing pro duction at its Merignac plant, near Bordeaux, from five aircraft a month to at least six. The deci sion is not an easy one, says Georges.. ."we want to ensure we never suffer again from the prob lems of overcapacity, which means you can end up with white tails [unsold aircraft]". He adds, however, that Dassault Aviation is prepared if necessary to fund the tooling for the production increase, although more emphasis is being placed on reducing production lead times. "We think we can reduce some production cycles from 12 months to eight," says Georges, "particularly on the Falcon 50EX, which is in demand from cus- A FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL SUPPLEMENT
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