French Republic (Escadron de Transport 60)’s Dassault Falcon 7X (plus Falcon 900s and an A330-200)
France's VIP squadron at Villacoublay has flown Dassault Falcons since the early 1970s and currently operates two Falcon 7Xs and four Falcon 900s alongside an Airbus A330-200 registered F-RARF for long-haul presidential travel. The unit marked its 80th anniversary in 2025, and the government has said it will standardise the Falcon fleet by 2028.
What it costs to keep flying
If flown 300 hours a year, our model puts the annual bill at:
- Crew, hangar, insurance, training
- $1,450K
- Fuel & maintenance (300 h)
- $1,440K
- Depreciation
- $3,088K
- Cost of capital (5%)
- $2,700K
Estimate. Bespoke interiors, extra crew and hangar in premium locations push it higher.
The aircraft
- Type
- Dassault Aviation Falcon 7X
- Class
- Ultra-Long-Range
- Range
- 5,950 nm
- Max cruise
- 488 kts (Mach 0.9)
- Passengers
- 12–16
- Cabin
- 39.1 × 7.7 × 6.2 ft
- New price
- $54M
- Fuel burn
- 340 gal/h
Sources: dassaultfalcon.com · ch-aviation.com
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