Dassault’s new Falcon 8X appearing here in Geneva this week at the EBACE show recently completed an exhaustive world tour as part of a series of route proving exercises as it prepares for service entry in the second half of 2016. Fitted with a full production cabin interior, 8X serial number three flew around 55,000 nautical miles (101,788 kilometers) over the course of four weeks and 65 flights.

The tour started with some short European flights from Dassault’s headquarters in France during the final week of March. Then, on April 4 it crossed the Atlantic from Paris to the New York-area Teterboro Airport, giving Dassault chairman and CEO Eric Trappier his first flight in the 8X, before heading east to Abu Dhabi and Shanghai, where it appeared at the ABACE show. The 8X then made various stops across southeast Asia before heading west again, flying non-stop from Singapore to London before recrossing the Atlantic to tour the U.S., including some high-altitude trials in Leadville, Colorado. It also went to South America before returning to Paris.

In March, the aircraft completed cold weather trials in northern Canada, where it was exposed to temperatures of -33-deg C. As of the end of April, Dassault had fully stocked its warehouses with 8X spares in readiness for initial customer operations.

The manufacturing process for the 8X is already well advanced, with Dassault’s factory at Bordeaux in France working on aircraft number 21. Six aircraft are already at its completions center at Little Rock, Arkansas. Trappier told AIN last month that existing Falcon owners feature prominently among the early buyers for the new 8X, with several of them stepping up from the 7X model. With a range of 6,450 nmi (11,937 km), it is meant for city pairs between Asia and Europe, and other long intercontinental missions.

This year, Dassault is celebrating its 100th anniversary as defined by the launch of the Éclair (“Lightning”) propeller developed during World War I by its founder Marcel Dassault—father of the group’s honorary chairman Serge Dassault. The patriarch is among the first customers for the new 8X).

Trappier acknowledged that 2016 has not started all that well for the business aviation sector, with new jet sales lagging. Even though Dassault still sees strength in the U.S. and European markets, softer demand from China, Brazil and Russia has resulted in some uncertainty over the sales outlook for this year. “At the same time, lower prices for pre-owned aircraft have meant that if someone is buying a new aircraft, and they first have to sell an aircraft, it might cause them to hesitate,” he concluded.

But Trappier expects the arrival of the 8X to have a big impact on Dassault’s standing in the market. “It is good news to enlarge our family,” he told AIN. “It will strengthen our sales, whether it takes three months, six months or a year.”

At the same time, Dassault is making a renewed effort to sharpen its competitive edge in the face of stiff competition from rivals with lower cost bases willing to cut prices for new aircraft. Trappier said that the airframer is now planning an “economic transformation” that will tackle cost issues on both the civil and military sides of its business.

While giving few specific indications as to what this transformation will entail, he pointed to efforts to extend digital technology and processes to every aspect of its business. “This must also include subcontractors, as we are not alone in [controlling the] pricing of aircraft,” Trappier explained. “So we have launched programs for them to become more competitive.”

What Next for 5X?

            Meanwhile, the delayed Falcon 5X program seems to be gathering some more positive momentum, with confirmation last month that engine supplier Snecma is preparing to test a revised version of the aircraft’s Silvercrest engine that it says will fix the problems that triggered an almost-two-year delay.

            “In order to optimize the program we decided to freeze manufacturing and slow down our subcontractors in order not to have too much stock in our inventory,” said Trappier. “Now, we have a new schedule given to us by Snecma at the beginning of the year, so it’s certification in 2019 and delivery in the first half of 2020. I’m still convinced it’s the right aircraft in terms of what it will offer. We’re not satisfied, we’re not happy at all, but we have to face the situation.” He added that he expects Snecma to reinforce its engineering teams in a bid to speed up recovery from the technical issues.

            Part of facing the situation is talking to 5X customers about where the delay leaves them. “Most of them understand and will wait for the 5X,” said Trappier. “Some want to keep their contracts, some want to cancel and some want to take a leasing solution or buy another aircraft.”

            Future research and development work at Dassault continues to be strongly focused on reducing the environmental footprint of the Falcons—further cutting noise, fuel burn and emissions. Environmental considerations seem to be a block on Dassault’s lingering ambitions to enter the supersonic business jet arena, and Trappier indicated that it will, instead, focus on delivering greater subsonic speed.