The Contour of Luxury Summer 2019 | Page 565

N ow, why are these jets so remarkable ? ff rty/Stu e h g u ail Do : Abig Source In the same vein as its superior landing capabilities, Falcon jets also allow passengers to travel almost any flight path they desire. According to Michel-Jacob, reiterated by Stuff, these “…planes can go to international des- tinations that commercial airlines don’t serve.” As opposed to twin-engine jets, which must fly with- in range of diversion airports as a precaution in the event of an engine failure, the 8x jet has three engines, enabling the aircraft to fly more direct courses on some oceanic routes. The 8x also has the capacity to fly as high as 51,000 feet (15,500 me- ters), a substantial advantage compared to airlin- ers that must coast between 30,000 to 40,000 feet. First-rate landing. Check. High-caliber engines. Check. To further its list of exceptional fea- tures, the Falcon 8x can also fly at ultra-long ranges. Michel-Jacob stat- ed that the 8x has 1360 kilograms of additional fuel capacity, supply- ing it with a nearly 12,000 nautical mile (22,000 kilometer) range. To give an idea of how far this equates to, the 8x can fly 16 people from Hong Kong to London non-stop. The need for a private jet of this capacity derives from the necessity of faster transatlantic transportation for upper-class businesspeople. Many wealthy individuals travelling for business and leisure endeavors be- tween New Zealand and the United States are in search of an easy commute without the exasperating, time-con- suming stopovers required to refu- el the aircraft. Due to an increased number of high net worth individuals voyaging to and from New Zealand, Dassault’s aircraft fleet production increased from one to four within the short time span of 16 months; thus, the time-efficient Dassault jet is ac- cessible to more ultra-wealthy peo- ple who do not have time to waste on slow, tedious commercial air travel.