Business Aviation Review

The Falcon 7X, powered by three Pratt &Whitney PW307A engines, represented a major capability leap from the smaller Bombardier Challenger CL-604 jets the type was replacing, given its larger passenger load, modern flightdeck, satellite communications capability and increased range.

Further, the new business jets had good short-field performance and a low pavement rating, allowing it to operate into remote and regional airfields.

In addition to giving the Australian government’s special purpose aircraft (SPA) fleet – operated by the RAAF 34SQN out of Defence Establishment Fairbairn in Canberra – a significant upgrade, Jacob said having the Falcon 7X in the RAAF colours represented an enormous vote of confidence in the aircraft.

“The Falcon 7X is now our most popular aircraft in Australia with half a dozen in operation including the three sold to the Australian government,” Jacob told Australian Aviation in an emailed response to written questions.

“Customers are showing strong interest not only in the 7X but in its ultra-long range Falcon 8X sister aircraft as well.

“Having the 7X in the RAAF fleet will most certainly help raise awareness of the aircraft in the market and promote its use with potential new buyers.”

Jacob said the large-cabin, long-range aircraft appeared to be the “most dynamic” part of the business jet segment in Australia at the moment.

In that category, Dassault has the in-service Falcon 7X and Falcon 8X, as well as the Falcon 6X, which was formally launched in May 2018 and currently in development.

The Falcon 6X was able to seat up to 16 passengers in a cabin that measured 12.3m long, 1.98m high and 2.5m wide.

Meanwhile, the maximum range of 5,500nm at Mach 0.80 or 5,100nm at Mach 0.85 enabled the aircraft to fly from Australia to any destination in Asia nonstop.

First assembly was expected in early 2020, with deliveries to customers slated to begin in 2022.

Jacob said the Falcon 6X would bring a new level of comfort to Australian customers, noting the cabin cross section was the biggest of any purpose-built business jet.

“We are now about to begin a heavy promotion campaign of the aircraft in Australia and we believe the market response will be excellent,” Jacob said.

‘The Dassault Falcon 6X will help to excite and stimulate market demand’
JEAN-MICHEL JACOB

In addition to Dassault Aviation’s Falcon aircraft program, the company also bolstered its maintenance footprint in January through the acquisition of ExecuJet’s worldwide maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operations.

In an Australian context, the deal covered ExecuJet’s facilities at Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, as well as a Bombardier spares warehouse in Sydney. Since then, a line maintenance facility at Brisbane Airport has also opened.

ExecuJet MRO Services vice president for MRO services in Australasia Grant Ingall said Dassault Aviation had been incredibly supportive since acquiring the company from Luxaviation.

“They bought the business because they liked ExecuJet as a business, it was well run, well managed and the plan is in the immediate future to let it continue that way,” Ingall told Australian Aviation in an interview.

“There is no preference given to Dassault products at all. We want to maintain our relationships with the other OEMs. In our kind of market, where the numbers are fairly thin, we need to do that as a business.

“We can offer value to all of the OEMs.”

In terms of market conditions regarding aircraft maintenance, Ingall said ExecuJet’s Australian facilities were working on an increasing number of business aircraft based in Asia.

“The Australian dollar exchange rate at the moment provides competitive rates when compared to pricing in US dollars,” Ingall said.

“Our pricing is favourable and we have earned a very good reputation for reliability, for getting the aircraft out on time, for quality and the whole customer experience.

“It’s a good way of growing our business. The market is only a certain size in Australia.”

On the local market more broadly, Ingall said there was slow growth, with the focus, unsurprisingly for a country that is a long way away from anywhere, on the large aircraft segment.

“Quite often customers are looking at mid-sized and then when it gets to that range issue for where they need to travel they end up deciding on a larger type which offers a bit more flexibility and being able to go further afield,” Ingall said.

“Anyone who lives in Australia understands it is a fair way to travel to get anywhere internationally so it’s definitely attractive for them to have that range and that comes with larger cabins as well.

Dassault Aviation’s Jacob described the market as “stable” in 2019 and likely to remain that way in 2020.

“That said, we think that new aircraft models such as the Dassault Falcon 6X will help to excite and stimulate market demand,” Jacob said.

Embraer Executive Jets vice president for Asia and the Middle East Claudio Camelier said the market continued to be “cautiously stable”.

“Australia is still a very used-aircraft focused market, but there are some opportunities for new aircraft,” Camelier said in a statement to Australian Aviation.

PERTH AIRPORT IMPROVEMENTS

The Australian Business Aviation Association (ABAA), the peak industry body representing business jet owners and operators in this country, achieved a long-sought-after gain earlier in 2019 when they were able to secure off-terminal processing for international business jet arrivals from Australian Border Force (ABF) and the Department of Agriculture.

Previously, those flying in from overseas on business jets at Perth Airport had to taxi over to the international terminal to join all other international passengers to complete immigration and quarantine formalities.

That process took time and impacted the airport’s operations, given aircraft often had to cross active runways to go between the international terminal and Perth’s fixed-base operations (FBO).

ABAA chief executive David Bell said senior officials from the Department of Home Affairs visited Perth Airport earlier in 2019 and were able to see first hand what the issues were.

“They’ve been very cooperative and it has improved remarkably in the last month or so,” Bell told Australian Aviation in an interview.

“We are now getting off-terminal clearances at the FBOs on the western side of Perth Airport instead of going to the international terminal.

“That’s a major thing for us.”

Bell said the new arrangements were working well and brought Perth Airport in line with other gateway airports in Australia.

ABAA CONCERNED OVER PART 91 IMPACT

While pleased with the changes at Perth Airport, the ABAA has been battling another issue that was also having a significant impact on business jets being flown into and out of the country by private operators.

Bell said these private operators have been caught up in changes to security requirements since transport security functions were moved from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development to the Department of Home Affairs earlier in 2019.

As a consequence, private operators coming and going from Australia needed to have a transport security program in place in accordance with the interpretation of the legislation by the Department of Home Affairs.

“It does involve a very extensive form to be filled in and this requirement for private aviation is unique in the world,” Bell explained.

“It’s very time consuming, it’s a hassle and it’s very wrong. If you read it, it is really aimed at the airlines and these private operators are not an airline.

“We don’t issue tickets, we don’t have baggage security, we load the bags on because we know who the passengers are.

“We don’t have hardened cockpit doors in business jets with a maximum takeoff weight of up to 54.5 tonnes. The crews know who is on board.”

Bell stressed that the concerns regarding transport security requirements were solely related to private operators and not commercial operators of business jet aircraft.

An example of a private operator would be a global firm flying an executive to Australia on one of its own aircraft flown by its own pilots and maintained by the company’s own flight operations.

“The company owns the airplane, they have got their own flight department, their executives fly on the aircraft. That’s it,” Bell said.

“All of these flights arrive at gateway airports which have FBOs which are secure so we don’t see what the problem is.

“This is private operations. We are not complaining about commercial operations.”

Bell said the ABAA has made a submission to the Department of Home Affairs in August calling for change.

Further, the International Aviation Business Council, which represents 14 regional business aviation associations around the world, also wrote to the Australian government backing the ABAA’s position.

“It has been a massive problem for business people wanting to come to Australia,” Bell said.

“Australia is not open for business with this.”

Bell said he was “reasonably optimistic” a resolution would be found by the end of 2019.

‘A greater number of young used aircraft will be available for sale at very good prices’

HONEYWELL
OUTLOOK FOR BUSINESS JETS SUBDUED

An annual survey from Honeywell Aerospace predicted new aircraft models coming to the market in the period ahead was expected to support “strong growth in the short to medium term”.

Nonetheless, the Honeywell Aerospace Global Business Aviation Outlook published on October 21 has forecast a reduction in demand for the decade ahead.

The report forecast some 7,600 new business jet deliveries worth US$248 billion between 2020 and 2029. This represented an annual growth rate of between two and three per cent, a figure “in line with expected worldwide economic growth and supported by the current and expected introduction of new models throughout the forecast period”.

However, the 2019 estimate was 1.3 per cent lower than the 2018 forecast of 7,700 aircraft and also below 8,300 deliveries forecast in the 2017 report.

“Operators plan to make new jet purchases equivalent to about 17 per cent of their fleets over the next five years as replacements or additions to their current fleet, a decrease of three percentage points compared with 2018 survey results,” the report said.

While the forecast demand for new aircraft over the decade has been reduced, Honeywell Aerospace president for the Americas aftermarket Heath Patrick said the number of business aircraft deliveries was expected to grow in 2020.

“Production ramp up on many new business jet platforms are expected to lead to a seven per cent increase in deliveries in 2020, following a strong projected growth in 2019 over 2018 aircraft deliveries,” Patrick said in a statement.

“We are confident that these new and innovative aircraft models will support solid growth in the short term and have a continuing impact on new business jet purchases in the midterm and long term.”

The report said business jet operators continued to focus aircraft in the large cabin and ultra long-range categories, which were expected to account for “more than 71 per cent of all expenditures of new business jets in the next five years”.

Purchase plans for used jets were significantly higher in this year’s survey. Operators worldwide indicated that 32 per cent of their fleet was expected to be replaced or expanded by used jets over the next five years, up 8 percentage points compared with survey results from 2018.

The Honeywell Aerospace report said North America, the world’s largest business jet market, would continue to generate the bulk of the global sales, with the region tipped to have 60 per cent of all purchases over the next five years.

It said 36 per cent of operators in North America indicated they planned to schedule new purchases of business jets over the next two years.

Closer to home, the report said that despite geopolitical tensions, purchase plans in the Asia Pacific were up three percentage points on the prior year, with 15 per cent of operators in the region planning to acquire new aircraft over the next five years.

“Based on the expressed level of purchase plans, Asia Pacific would represent a 10 per cent share of global new jet demand over the next five years,” the report said.

“About 40 per cent of respondents in Asia Pacific plan to schedule their new purchases within the first two years of the five-year horizon, the highest proportion of all the regions.”

The expected arrival of next generation business jets was also having an impact on the used aircraft market, with 32 per cent of respondents indicating plans to acquire a pre-owned aircraft over the next five years. This measure was up eight percentage points from the prior year and at the highest level in the past five years.

“The significant increase in purchase plans for used jets in this year’s survey could indicate an anticipation from respondents that with the expected increase in new aircraft deliveries in the short term, a greater number of young used aircraft will be available for sale at very good prices,” the report said.

And 15 per cent of operators indicated they planned to transfer from the new to the used market in 2019, which was three percentage points higher than the five-year average.

The report was compiled with responses from 1,500 business jet operators around the world alongside macroeconomic analyses and consultation with original equipment manufacturers and industry leaders.

Main factors that influenced purchasing decisions included aircraft performance, followed by brand experience, cabin and range, the report said. Other factors included direct operating costs and the customer support experience.