Page 24 - AAA MARCH - APRIL 2014 Online Magazine

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INTERVIEW DASSULT FALCONON
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Dassault HardSells

Falcon 5X in India

Dassault Aviation is upbeat about India. The French firm is optimistic that more
contracts will come soon as the Indian economy is showing an upward trend. In
an exclusive interview to AAA, Thierry de Poncins, International Sales director for
Dassault Aviation Civil Aircraft in India, says its all new Falcon 5X is expected to be
particularly well received. Excerpts from the interview:

AAA: What’s your take on the Indian Could you talk about firm orders in low cost of opération, Falcons are well
market with regard to your product line? India, including for the 7X, and the appreciated by charter companies. One
Thierry: Dassault Falcon business jets Indian customer base? How many of our Falcon 7Xs, operated by Ligare
have a long established reputation for Falcons are already operating in India? Voyage in Delhi, is used extensively to
high end quality, advanced design and A total of 22 Falcon jets are operating in commute between India, Europe, Asia
performance, and operating within an India today, including two top of the line and Africa, and is very popular among
economical environment. Dassault Falcon 7Xs based in Delhi, and several customers for its superior comfort.
has for years had a leading position in more are due for delivery. Recent sales
India’s large cabin /long range segment. have been slow because of the difficult Are you confident of bagging
Indian customers understand the high economy and the upcoming elections. more contracts in India?
value of technology associated with our Customers are mainly large We are very optimistic that more contracts
brand and the key benefits that they can corporations and charter companies. will come soon. The Indian economy has
expect to derive from it. We also have a Most of them are NSOP, i.e. they are used been soft during the last two or three
strong customer service footprint in the by company management when needed years but the trend is upward. The country
country, with an ample spares inventory to and chartered to other parties the rest of offers formidable potential for growth.
cope with the growing number of Falcon the time. Few Falcons in the country are Business jets have proven themselves
operators in the region. operated privately. as efficient transportation tools with
We recently certified the new Falcon Because of their exceptional flexibility large corporations and charter operators
2000S and 2000LXS with DGCA, which no – they can combine short hops and alike. Falcons are popular in India and
doubt will help prolong the success of the long haul flights and fly out of short should benefit from the coming recovery.
Falcon 2000 line. More than 500 Falcon hard-to-reach airstrips with full range The all new Falcon 5X is expected to be
2000 aircraft are currently in service performance, even at high altitudes particularly well received and in fact we
around the globe. and high température conditions - and even anticipate a few sales this year, even
24 ASIAN AIRLINES & AIRPORTS MARCH / APRIL 2014 WWW.ASIANAIRLINES-AIRPORTS.COM