Dassault Aviation closed 2023 with weaker-than-anticipated sales and deliveries of its Falcon business jets. According to the French aircraft manufacturer, orders for Falcons declined from 64 in 2022 to just 23 last year. The company delivered 26 Falcons, six fewer than in 2022, and fell short of the 35 units it had previously projected in guidance issued in March.
As of December 31, Dassault’s backlog of orders covered 84 Falcons, compared with 87 at the end of 2022. However, over the same period, the backlog for its Rafale fighters increased from 164 to 211, and the company delivered 13 Rafales (11 to the French military and two for export customers), which was two fewer than forecast.
Dassault had expected to make more deliveries of its new Falcon 6X last year. But the first production 6X entered service with the undisclosed launch customer on November 30, some three months after it achieved concurrent FAA and EASA type certification on August 22.
In the second half of last year, Dassault managed to spool up deliveries from a slow start of just nine units in the first six months, which the company acknowledged had been affected by ongoing supply-chain difficulties. It delivered 17 Falcons in the second half.
Dassault Aviation will publish its full-year group financial results, including its 2024 delivery forecast, on March 6.