Dassault Aviation highlighted the growing success of its Falcon 7X and 8X large-cabin long range Falcon business jets at Jet Expo Moscow 2016, which was held from September 8 to 10.

The show was held at Vnukovo-3 airport and featured as many as 80 exhibitors and 30 jets and helicopters on display.

Dassault Aviation’s exhibit featured the top-of-the-line Falcon 7X and the long range Falcon 900LX trijets, and spotlighted the forthcoming entry into service of the new, ultra-long range Falcon 8X. 

The 8X was certified in June and will start deliveries within a few weeks.

Dassault is one of the leading suppliers of high-end executive jets in the Russian and CIS region. More than 50 Falcons have been delivered to customers in the region over the last decade, most of them large cabin Falcon 7X and 900 trijets. Since the last Jet Expo in September of 2015, Dassault has handed over five new 7Xs to Russian customers, including four in the first half of 2016. Several other Russian 7X deliveries are scheduled this year.

“This year Russia has been a bright spot in global business aviation, contrasting with the softness of the global market,” said Gilles Gautier, Vice President, Falcon Sales for Dassault Aviation. “There has been a lot of activity in the region and we are bullish about near and longer term prospects, especially once the economy gets going again.”

Set to enter service in the coming weeks, the 6,450 nm/11,945 km 8X will offer the greatest range and the longest cabin of any Falcon while featuring the same low operating economics and remarkable operating flexibility as the Falcon 7X from which it is derived. 

It will be capable of flying from Moscow to Los Angeles, Cape Town, Darwin or Rio de Janeiro to Moscow non-stop and landing at restricted airports like Gstaad and Lugano, Switzerland that are typically inaccessible to large business jets.

Russia is also expected to be a strong market for Dassault’s brand new Falcon 5X ultra-large body twinjet, currently in development. The 5,200 nm/9,630 km 5X will offer the highest and widest cabin on the market, yet provide sufficient range to fly from Moscow to New York or Hong Kong in a single hop, says Dassault Aviaiton. 

First deliveries of the new twin are anticipated in 2020.

Dassault Falcon is the global brand for Dassault business jets which are designed, manufactured and supported by France’s Dassault Aviation and its US-based subsidiary Dassault Falcon Jet Corporation.