Dassault’s new Falcon 8X jet is making its debut in China here this week at the ABACE show. The three-engined aircraft arrived in Shanghai from Abu Dhabi as part of a four-week program of flight demonstrations ahead of its anticipated entry into service in the second half of 2016. Fitted with a full production cabin interior, 8X serial number 3 is due to fly around 55,000 nm (101,788 km) 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.

After this week’s appearance on the ABACE static display, the 8X will make 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 Colorado. It will also be going to South America before returning to Paris some time around the end of April. In March, the aircraft completed cold weather trials in northern Canada, where it was exposed to temperatures of -33 degrees Celsius.

The manufacturing process for the 8X is already well advanced, with Dassault’s factory at Bordeaux in France now working on aircraft number 21 and 6 aircraft already at its completions center at Little Rock, Arkansas. Trappier told AIN 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.

Stronger in China

Dassault (Chalet 10/Static) is not alone among business jet manufacturers in wishing for sustained growth in the Chinese market. While this has been held back by slowing economic growth, the French airframer remains convinced that China will continue to develop as a major new marketplace and it is continuing to invest in the country.

“We have to be patient but this doesn’t mean doing nothing as we have to be more present in this and other countries,” said Trappier. “China remains a new country in business jet terms. We have been reinforcing the position of our sales and support teams there over the past two years and we are getting even closer to the customer with a new service station in China. There is a huge requirement for Chinese business people to travel around the world to find new customers for their products, and for that they need aircraft like this.”

This year, Dassault is celebrating its 100th anniversary, as defined by the launch of the Éclair propeller developed by its founder Marcel Dassault–father of the group’s honorary chairman Serge Dassault (who is among the first customers for the new 8X). Trappier believes that the company’s strong family connections and heritage resonate positively with Chinese customers.

More broadly, 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 has meant that if someone is buying a new aircraft and they first have to sell an aircraft it might cause them to hesitate,” Trappier concluded.