(MENAFN- AFP) Dassault Aviation's new Falcon business jet the 5X has already received firm orders, the French group's CEO told AFP on Monday.
"We are very discreet but I can tell you that we have firm 5X contracts as we speak. These are clients from around the world and they will rapidly increase in the coming weeks," Eric Trappier said at the Dubai Airshow.
Dassault unveiled the 5X in Las Vegas on October 21 at a list price of roughly $45 million.
The executive aircraft is expected to make its maiden flight in the first quarter of 2015 and enter service in mid-2017.
Trappier declined to give details about the number of jets sold so far or the buyers, but said that 5X had received a warm welcome in the Middle East region.
"What is popular is the large cabin" and its range, he said.
"We are at the beginning of the marketing of 5X," but "it is gaining interest here (in the Gulf region) and not only in the United States, Russia, Asia or South America," Trappier said.
The 5X cabin will have a 1.98-metre (6 feet 6 inches) ceiling, the highest in the market, a significant comfort factor for lengthy flights of 10 to 11 hours, Dassault says.
The aircraft can carry eight passengers and, with a range of 9,600 kilometres (nearly 6,000 miles), can fly non-stop from Los Angeles to London or Paris to Beijing.
The 5X's biggest competitors are expected to be the Gulfstream G450 and Bombardier GL5000.
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