EBACE 2014 Live News: Press Day

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F-HBFP Hawker 800XP

A French-registered Hawker 800XP in front of the Geneva backdrop at EBACE 2012

Welcome to Corporate Jet Investor’s coverage of EBACE 2014 live from Geneva. Please remember to refresh the page for updates.
F-HBFP Hawker 800XP

A French-registered Hawker 800XP in front of the Geneva backdrop at EBACE 2012

Corporate Jet Investor’s live coverage of EBACE 2014 is sponsored by Hangar8.

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If you have any news or comments, you can send an e-mail to Alex Andrews at: [email protected] or send us a Tweet: @CorpJetInvestor.


Summary

  • Dassault launches the Falcon 8X with more range and cabin space than any other Falcon.
  • Gulfstream launches the G650ER, which can fly 500 nautical miles further than the G650.
  • Honda Aircraft reveals the first production HondaJet and Q1 2015 type certification target.
  • Piaggio launches the Avanti Evolution twin turboprop.

Live feed

17.10 That’s a wrap for today. Have a pleasant evening if you’re in Geneva and make sure you join us again tomorrow where we’ll have more news from Aerion, Bombardier, Cessna, NetJets, Nextant and Wheels Up. We’ll also catch up with Gulfstream and Honda Aircraft.

17.00 Read our editor, Alasdair Whyte’s take on the Falcon 8X and G650ER in an editorial, which was just sent out in a special newsletter for EBACE (remember it’s free to sign-up):

Five hundred nautical miles is just over the distance from London to Geneva, but adding that range to an existing aircraft is a big technical issue. Both Dassault and Gulfstream today announced that buyers of the Falcon 8X (formerly, the less than catchy Falcon 7X M1000) and the G650ER will have that as an option.

The Falcon 8X will cost about 10 per cent more than the standard Falcon 7X, where as Gulfstream has not revealed pricing for the G650ER.

Neither announcement was a big surprise (in fact, we told you about the M1000 in February and reported a G650 range record in March) and both make competitive sense.

However, the two manufacturers should not expect financiers to welcome the new models. Despite costing more than $70 (with escalation) at the moment, the G650 is possibly the easiest aircraft in the world to find finance and financiers will not be keen to change what they see as a winning formula.

16.55 Gulfstream also brought along a model for the new Gulfstream G650ER.

Gulfstream G650ER

A Gulfstream G650ER model at EBACE 2014.

16.45 Check out Dassault’s model for the Falcon 8X, which was officially launched this morning.

A model of the Dassault Falcon 8X business jet.

A model of the Dassault Falcon 8X business jet.

16.35 There are 499 exhibitors at this year’s EBACE show. While the 8 per cent increase on last year is impressive, the fact that the show was one away from 500 must still be nagging the organisers.

16.10 This afternoon, Piaggio launched the Avanti Evolution, which the manufacturer modestly calls “the world’s fastest, most efficient, and most beautiful twin turboprop aircraft.”

14.30 In a speech before today’s media luncheon, Fabio Gamba, CEO of EBAA, said it was good to see silver linings following a tough five years for business aviation. While not experiencing a boom at the moment, Gamba said that “all the indicators are positive” for Europe.

To Gamba and EBAA’s credit, this morning’s proceedings were extremely smooth. Although, if we’re being honest, the press luncheon didn’t quite live up to the heights of the stellar Chinese buffet at ABACE in April. At this point, it’s worth reminding you all that we pull no punches at Corporate Jet Investor.

12.50 Some highlights from Embraer’s press conference:

  • Embraer enjoyed a 7.8 percent share of the new business jet market last year, after eclipsing Cessna’s deliveries (in terms of sales revenue) for the first time ever.
  • The Phenom 300 was the most-delivered business jet of last year.
  • The Phenom family is on target for its 500th delivery by mid-2014.
  • The majority of Ember’s customers now prefer the Legacy 650 over the Legacy 600.
  • Brazil is still “a little behind” other countries in terms of aviation infrastructure.

12.45 Dassault offered no definitive price for the Falcon 8X, only a rough guidance.

12.35 If there was ever any doubt, the Falcon 8X will be Dassault’s new flagship aircraft. It will also be significantly lighter than the Falcon 7X, meaning further fuel efficiency.

12.20 In a much quieter conference room, Lufthansa Technik is also making some interesting announcements.

12.15 There’s no doubt that the Falcon 8X is the star of this year’s show.

12.12 Eric Trappier, CEO and chairman of Dassault Aviation: “The first aircraft is currently being assembled and will fly in the first quarter next year. We will start deliveries in the second half of 2016.”

12.10 EBACE’s worst kept secret is finally out. Dassault has unveiled the Falcon 8X business jet, which features 6,450 nautical miles of range (more than any other Falcon) and over 30 cabin configurations.

12.00 Embraer is displaying the first outfitted Legacy 500 business jet at this year’s show. We’ll bring you photos later on in the week.

11.45 Dassault is building hype for its eagerly-awaited announcement coming in the next 20 minutes.

11.35 Type certification for the HondaJet is planned for the first quarter of 2015.

11.30 Michimasa Fujino, president and CEO of Honda Aircraft, reveals that one of the first six HondaJet deliveries may go to Europe. Fujino also says that around 65-70 per cent of the 100 orders that the company already has on its books are from US customers. None of the orders so far have come from Japan.

11.20 Honda Aircraft’s assembly line in Greensboro, North California is now operational with nine aircraft in production.

11.15 Four FAA-conforming HondaJets have been flying for a while now, but another two are currently undergoing structural tests.

Honda Aircraft's press conference at EBACE 2014.

Honda Aircraft’s press conference at EBACE 2014.

11.05 Honda Aircraft just showed an epic new video, which looked more like Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity movie than an aircraft promo.

10.45 DAHER-SOCATA has began the early design stages for the Airbus E-Fan electric aircraft currently being developed by the Airbus Group.

10.40 The TBM 900 turboprop (on display this week) is priced just above $3 million.

10.35 The first four TBM 900s landed in the US on 16 March, with deliveries commencing on 20 March (some customers had not even seen pictures of the aircraft). Having gained FAA certification, another 47 aircraft have been ordered for 2014 (12 already delivered).

10.30 By the end of 2013, DAHER-SOCATA had delivered 662 TBM 700/850 turboprops.

10.15 The Gulfstream G650ER opens up new city-pairs such as New York to Hong Kong; Dallas to Dubai; and San Francisco to Delhi.

A Gulfstream G650ER set two speed records during flight testing earlier this year, flying 6,947 nm/12,866 km from Los Angeles to Melbourne at an average speed of Mach 0.86.

Current G650 owners and order-holders can upgrade their G650 to a G650ER from the first quarter of 2015.

10.05 From Gulfstream:

Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. today announced the new G650ER, an ultra-long-range aircraft that can travel 7,500 nautical miles/13,890 kilometers at Mach 0.85 and 6,400 nm/11,853 km at Mach 0.90. This represents an increase of up to 500 nm/926 km over the range of the G650, which entered service in 2012.

10.00 Could this be the G650 replacement that we predicted earlier?

9.35 If you haven’t already subscribed to our free weekly e-newsletter (look for the box on the homepage), here’s your chance to read last week’s pre-EBACE editorial from Alasdair Whyte, editor of Corporate Jet Investor.

Forgive me for summing up EBACE 2014 before it has even begun, but the mood in Geneva next week will (and should) be summed up as: “Not too bad, really.” It may not be exciting, but this realism is great. You will – once again – hear the term “cautiously optimistic” from many people.

No one should expect Europe to grow fast, but with around 15 per cent of the global fleet, it is still an extremely important market. Around one million passengers flew on business jets in Europe last year, according to estimates from Avinode, the electronic charter marketplace (and provider of scooters at EBACE). Even a small recovery is good news.

There is a tendency for people to view things at extremes – as either really good or awful. But the truth is that things are OK. We should be happy with that, especially if the US market is recovering.

As always, enjoy EBACE but don’t get carried away by the hype.

8.50 (Geneva) Welcome back to another EBACE, where the weather looks more promising than last year and we’re expecting another exciting week of business aviation news. We’re predicting that the biggest news of the week will be today’s launch of the Dassault Falcon 8X, which the company’s communications manager hinted at in a rather cryptic Tweet over the weekend.

Although it looks like Gulfstream will wait until October to lift the lid on its mysterious P-42 project (more on that later), there’s talk that the company could launch a new Gulfstream G650 with more range.

Elsewhere, we suggest keeping an eye on any developments between Bombardier and NetJets (another fleet order?), as well as Wheels Up and Gama (the arrival of King Airs at London City Airport?).

There’s also a chance that Honda Aircraft could make a significant announcement later this morning, but that looks unlikely given that the HondaJet is once again missing from the static display (although you can see a mock-up inside the exhibition hall).

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