Dassault Aviation plans to open a company-owned service center early next year at São Paulo Catarina International Executive Airport. The center will replace Dassault’s existing facility at Sorocaba.

The Catarina facility will offer nearly 40,000 sq ft of floor and office space and accommodate up to five Falcon business jets at a time. It also will be large enough for the ultra-long-range Falcon 10X, which is now in development.

Plans call for Dassault Falcon Jet Catarina to perform line maintenance up to B-level checks for Brazilian-registered Falcons in the Falcon 7X and Falcon 2000 families, as well as a pre-purchase evaluation (PPE) program for customers considering buying a preowned Falcon. PPE operations include a thorough physical evaluation of the aircraft, systems operational checks, and a detailed record search.

The new facility will hold repair station certification from Brazil’s Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC), the FAA, and EASA, as well as from airworthiness authorities in Argentina, Bermuda, and Uruguay. It will carry authorization to perform line maintenance and most major inspections on Falcon 50, 900, and 2000-series models, as well as on the Falcon 7X and 8X.

Along with airframe inspections and service, the facility will qualify to provide engine line maintenance on the CFE-738, Honeywell TFE731, and Pratt & Whitney Canada PW307A, PW307D, and PW308C. It will also conduct specialized non-destructive testing procedures, such as penetrant and eddy current tests. A full-service battery shop will house repair, replacement, or charging of main and emergency batteries on aircraft.

The location will continue to support an AOG "go team" trained to provide rapid mobile response directly to any aircraft location in South America, along with the parts and tools needed to get a Falcon back in the air with minimal delay.