Jean-Michel Jacob, general manager Asia Pacific civil aircraft for Dassault Aviation, is optimistic about the Southeast Asian economy, noting that it has strong links with essentially the entire world—the United States, Western Europe, China, India, the Middle East and Africa. “I think that Southeast Asia is probably one of the best places to be in terms of business, in general, particularly for business aviation,” he says. “We have to follow the trend, and normally these growing corporations will buy more airplanes to make sure they can have access to other markets in the region—or much further.”
Formerly based in Hong Kong, Jacob relocated to Kuala Lumpur several years ago—along with the rest of his team. One of the biggest investments the company has made in Malaysia is through its subsidiary ExecuJet MRO Services, which inaugurated a new 149,500 sq ft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in May at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (or more commonly known as Subang airport) in Selangor. “We invested in ExecuJet because we need to have support in the region. You cannot have airplanes sold in one part of the world without having the right support,” he says. “It’s true for everyone, but it’s very specifically true for Dassault. So, we needed to have support in Southeast Asia. And we have elected Malaysia a long time ago because it’s a great country. There is room for growth here. Subang airport was very convenient for that.”
Jacob also sees a growing awareness of what a business jet can do for a person. “I think people realise more and more that it’s not a toy; it’s a business tool. That’s very much what we sell—a tool for making a business grow,” Jacob notes. “Make sure that when they are flying, they have the ability to work, to communicate, to be in a confidential and very discreet environment, and to not waste time in the airport. People are getting more aware, in Southeast Asia in particular, about the benefits of it.” There is a very simple reasoning to owning a business jet. “It’s because you need to travel, and travel enough to make it [a good investment],” he states. “Otherwise, you could charter.”
There is a tremendous time and energy savings potential in private air travel. Being able to fly direct to a remote location, for example—cutting out the need for transit at an airport, and turning an overnight stay into a day trip. And then there is the quality of the entire experience. For Malaysians, there is no need for the lengthy drive to KLIA, and dealing with the crowds and satellite terminal transfers. Instead, it is the much shorter journey to the airport in Subang, with a separate drop-off area that deposits you right into the lounge. Security and immigration are likewise entirely divorced from the commercial side, which means it takes barely any time at all. Arriving 30 minutes before your scheduled flight time would be comfortable.
View more of the Falcon 8X
And then there is the in-air experience as well. The tables, armchairs and cushioned benches that any business jet can be configured to are all much more lounge-like and less claustrophobic than any commercial first-class suite. It is much easier to gather and converse with your fellow passengers, both because of the layout and because it can be much quieter. Something like Dassault Aviation’s Falcon 8X puts cabin noise as a priority—through smaller things, such as rubber mountings for the interior, and more fundamental aspects, such as the way the wings are joined to the fuselage, also make a difference. Business jets also have cabins pressurised to lower altitudes than commercial airliners; the Falcon 8X, for example, has its cabin pressure set up as if one were at an altitude of 3,900ft, as opposed to the commercial norm of 6,000-8,000ft. This greatly cuts down on the fatigue that accumulates during a flight.
View more of the Falcon 6X
Dassault Aviation is currently focusing on three products. The Falcon 8X has been the company’s flagship for years, an ultra-long-range jet that can fly non-stop to London from Kuala Lumpur. It is prized also for its flexibility, capable of short and steep approaches that mean it can go to practically any airport in the world. “It is the Swiss Army knife of the industry. It does everything well,” Jacob explains. “For people who don’t need to travel regularly to Western Europe, we also have the Falcon 6X, for instance.” Certified just last year, the Falcon 6X is a smaller offering that boasts of the most interior room in its class. “It can still go from Kuala Lumpur to Istanbul, which is quite long range, and it has a beautiful and extremely quiet cabin, as well as very low fuel consumption,” he says. “So, the 6X is a new product that is perfectly suited to most people.
View more of the Falcon 10X
“We will also soon have the Falcon 10X that will allow one to go to America non-stop from Kuala Lumpur,” he adds. “And it will probably—no, not probably, certainly—be technically the best plane in the industry.
“When people pick Dassault, it’s because they favour the flexibility of the airplane. Our airplane does everything well. They favour the extreme safety provided by the top equipment that we have on board, like the digital flight controls derived from the military,” Jacob states. “They select Dassault because we have a huge maintenance centre here in Malaysia, with very capable people. We have a very, very strong reputation for safety and quality.”
One indirect appeal of the Falcon series is that Dassault Aviation is also a proven manufacturing of military aircraft—most notably the Rafale, a multirole fighter in use by the French Air Force, along with others around the world. “It’s very related and very much linked. We have people who designed, at the same place, the two types of airplanes together,” Jacob says. “So, we applied the same exact philosophy to make sure that what we provide [the same for our business jet] owners. They need to make sure that they can go where they want to go. They want to make sure they can get there, they can feel safe, they can work onboard, they have the right systems, and so on.”
And for one final endorsement: Taylor Swift owns a Falcon 7X, the predecessor of the 8X, and uses it to tour the world. She is reputedly quite happy with it.
