Dassault Falcon swoops to strengthen China presence

BEIJING, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Dassault Falcon, a subsidiary of Paris-based Dassault Aviation, is to establish a customer service regional headquarters in Beijing, the company announced Wednesday.

The company also announced the launch of Dassault Falcon Aircraft Services at Shanghai's Hongqiao Airport, a program in cooperation with Shanghai Hawker Pacific.

The Beijing headquarters is scheduled to start operation in early 2013. The two facilities are expected to provide maintenance support to Falcon customers in China as well as transferring knowledge and maintenance experience to Chinese engineers.

"Dassault Falcon continues to solidify and grow our market position by adding to our sales and customers service teams and making significant capital investments in the country," said John Rosanvallon, President and CEO of Dassault Falcon Jet Corp. "Adding this capability is key to doing business in China and making sure Falcon customers have the best possible resources."

Rosanvallon made the remarks at the ongoing Beijing International Business Aviation Show.

Dassault Falcon sold its first business aircraft to China in 2006. Last year, the number of units it had delivered to the country grew to nine, and that is expected to increase to 24 this year. Most of the aircraft are the company's Falcon 7X model, which sell for about 52 million U.S. dollars each.

China is gradually opening its airspace for general aviation. The potential for major aviation players is huge. Dassault Falcon, which is committed to marketing DA's Falcon line of products, enjoys a 20-percent share of the Chinese market for business aircraft and 40-percent share globally.

The company wishes to increase its China market share to roughly the same level in the future, according to Rosanvallon.