Dassault Falcon Service (DFS) is celebrating its 50th anniversary, barely a year after the 100-year anniversary of its parent company, Dassault Aviation. DFS was created in 1967 under the name Europe Falcon Service to provide customer support in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
DFS is the biggest Falcon support organization in the world with 640 employees, approvals from more than 20 national airworthiness authorities, and activities in maintenance, upgrades, FBO services, training and air charter. Its primary maintenance, overhaul and repair (MRO) facility, located at its home base in Paris/Le Bourget (France), is the largest in the world dedicated exclusively to Falcons, with seven hangars and 25 aircraft bays.
Jean Kayanakis, general manager for DFS, said, “Since its inception fifty years ago, DFS has committed itself to optimizing interaction and proximity to Falcon operators and ensuring that they enjoy access to the best and most complete package of support services available in the industry. Maximizing customer satisfaction and maintaining ownership value remain our primary objective.”
In 1988, in cooperation with Flight Training International, it created the Falcon Training Center that is also located at Le Bourget. The center recently installed the first full flight simulator for Dassault’s new ultra-long range Falcon 8X trijet. In 2004, DFS founded its first satellite service center in Rome, Italy, and later added facilities in Nice, France and London/Luton, both in the UK, and more recently, at Vnukovo International in Moscow, Russia, and in Libreville, Gabon. The satellite network handles around 1,500 customer events annually.
In October 2016, DFS inaugurated a second MRO center in Mérignac, near Bordeaux, to service the Falcon 7X, 8X and future large-body models. Also, in May of this year, DFS signed an agreement with Japan Air Lines (JAL) that will enable JAL customers to travel on to destinations in Europe and Africa not covered by the airline’s commercial network by using DFS’s charter fleet and Le Bourget FBO. These are just come of the company’s achievements over its 50-year existence.
