French luxury jet builder Dassault threw down the gauntlet at EBACE in Geneva with the launch of the Falcon 8X, a new flagship trijet that is intended to go head-to-head with the class-leading ultra-long range Gulfstream G650 and Bombardier Global family.
The 19-seat Falcon 8X is a stretched version of the Falcon 7X that will boast a range of 6,450 nm, or about 500 nm more than the 7X, making nonstop flights possible between Beijing and New York, Hong Kong and Seattle, and Paris and Singapore.
Priced at $58 million, the Falcon 8X will feature a fuselage that is nearly 4 feet longer than the 7X. Power will come from three Pratt & Whitney Canada turbofans that, when combined with an improved wing design, will offer a claimed fuel efficiency improvement of 35 percent over competing ultra-long-range jets.
Dassault expects certification for the Falcon 8X in mid-2016, with deliveries to begin later that year.