Dassault Sales Decline But Deliveries and Profits Increase

There's good
news and bad news at French manufacturer Dassault Aviation, which reported this week that it delivered a record 77 Falcon jets but recorded a negative net order tally (due to cancellations) of 163 such jets. Dassault chairman and CEO Charles Edelstenne said the negative number includes 65 cancellations from fractional provider NetJets for aircraft that were to have been delivered after 2014 (so their loss won't immediately affect Falcon delivery rates). Net orders last year fell an estimated €3.9 billion ($5.3 billion), but thanks to the record deliveries, Falcon revenues, at €2.44 billion ($3.3 billion), grew 5 percent. Despite the cancellations, moreover, Dassault still had backlogged orders for 249 Falcons as of December 31. Asked about the possibility of customers being able to get bargain prices on Falcons during the economic downturn, Edelstenne made it clear that this will not happen. Meanwhile, he said, certification of the large-cabin Falcon 900LX has been postponed to the second half of this year.