Market Focus: Dassault Falcon 50EX
Few aircraft elicit the type of emotional response – especially from pilots – as the Falcon 50/EX. Beyond being a little sports car with great feel, the Falcon 50 was one of the first “yes Boss, we can go” aircraft. Short field? No problem, we can go. Hot outside? No problem, we can go. By rule, if you can cram it in the airplane, you are within CG limits and under Max Takeoff Weight. Dirt strip? Yes, we can go there too. Seriously.
The original Falcon 50, already 15+ years old at the time, was tweaked in the mid-90’s with a Collins ProLine 4 cockpit and upgraded Honeywell TFE731-40 engines. This gave the aircraft more range and better initial climb altitude, as well as a more modern “glass cockpit”.
Dassault’s timing could not have been better. The world economy was doing great and the new super mid-size competition- Bombardier Continental (later renamed Challenger 300), Hawker Horizon (later the Hawker 4000), and IAI Galaxy (later the Gulfstream 200) – were all 5-10 years away from delivering. In fact, the only direct competition at the time was the Cessna Citation X, which could not have been a more different aircraft in virtually every way aside from cabin and price.
As a result, Dassault delivered 100 Falcon 50EX’s before production ended in 2007. Safe to say, a lot more than they originally thought.
Make no mistake, the Falcon 50 has always been a niche product- but it hits that niche squarely and right between the eyes. And that remains the case today. If your mission and budget contain the right blend of variables, you may find that the Falcon 50EX is really the onlyaircraft which will fit the bill. As a result, demand for the Falcon 50EX continues, despite the multitude of alternatives that offer more cabin.
We are currently tracking 14 aircraft for sale, with an average time on market of 201 days. The average asking price is $5.2M and we estimate market values today range from mid $3M’s to the low $6M’s. 6 aircraft have sold within the past 6-months, which implies 14 months of available inventory. Not great, but actually a lot better than many other markets.
Some other random facts about the group of aircraft currently for sale:
- Average model year is 2001, but most common model year is 2000 (oldest 1997; newest 2006)
- 10.5 of the 14 aircraft are US registered (one is in Canada- half point for proximity)
- 10 of the 14 have the more common 9 passenger configuration with aft 3-place divan
- This is a low-time crop of aircraft: Average utilization for the group is 290 hours per year, with a high of 437 and low of 170
- On average, they have had 1.93 owners
- 100% engine program coverage
- 2 of the 14 are ADS-B Out compliant
- 10 have some sort of Iridium-based phone (mostly Aircell), with the balance having older Inmarsat-based SATCOM’s
- 4 are equipped with GoGo Biz
If you would like more information on the Falcon 50EX market, or a realistic market value opinion on your aircraft, please call Cass or Jeff at +1 212 888 7979.
We are also offering a beautifully maintained, one-owner, US registered, Falcon 50EX for sale. The aircraft has GoGo Biz, an Aircell Axxess II phone, ADS-B Out, WAAS/LPV and is currently operated Part 135.