French manufacturer Dassault is feeling tight at home here at ABACE, with host Hawker Pacific being one of its key support partners in China. “China is a key market for Dassault, and providing the best customer service solutions here is of paramount importance to us,” said Olivier Villa, senior v-p of civil aircraft for Dassault Aviation. For Dassault, “civil aircraft” means its line of Dassault Falcon business jets (as it also builds the Rafale fighter jet), and Villa knows that unfailing customer support is the bedrock of building a successful sales program in a region.
Over the past several years, Dassault Falcon has built up continuous investment in its support network in China. The outreach has supported not only Chinese operators, but also transient customers who regularly visit the region.
Investments of particular note include last year’s agreement with Beijing-based Deer Jet to provide line service and unscheduled maintenance for the Falcon 7X. Dassault also opened a local customer service headquarters in Beijing in 2013. Here in Shanghai, the Dassault Falcon Services-Shanghai joint-venture with Shanghai Hawker Pacific was established in 2012.
Dassault’s customer support partnership with Deer Jet, one of the largest business jet operators in the Asia Pacific, covers light line maintenance (up to 2A and 2A+ inspections) at Deer Jet’s Beijing facility, as well as unscheduled maintenance on Chinese-registered Falcon 7Xs.
Since the agreement in May 2015, the Deer Jet shop has completed approximately 100 routine service and maintenance jobs. Deer Jet currently has an application in process for full FAA repair station approval and has three Falcon-dedicated technicians on staff, providing 24/7 aircraft-on-ground (AOG) support.
Dassault Falcon’s new customer service office in Beijing focuses on availability of spare parts, a critical element in aircraft service so far from the factory. Having spares warehoused in-country also has implications for reducing duty and import tax expenses for operators.
Dassault Falcon’s spares depots in Asia Pacific provide access to the top 3,000 high-demand parts for in-production Falcons. The dollar value of available parts in China, alone, has increased more than 10 percent to about $6 million. Value of the spares inventory throughout Asia Pacific is pegged at more than $35 million, said Dassault Falcon.
The Beijing office is also staffed with field technical representatives and customer care managers who specialize in spares, warranty issues and other operational support services.
Here at ABACE yesterday, Dassault Falcon held a Maintenance & Operations (M&O) seminar, focused on operations and technical issues of specific concern to Chinese customers.
