Dassault Falcon 900

The Dassault Falcon 900 is a three-engine, long-range business jet built by the French manufacturer Dassault Aviation, and one of the most distinctive designs in business aviation thanks to its trijet layout. Dassault, better known to many for its Mirage and Rafale combat aircraft, has built the Falcon family of business jets since the 1960s, and developed the Falcon 900 as a larger, longer-range successor to its earlier three-engine Falcon 50, itself derived from the twin-engine Falcon 20.

The Falcon 900 first flew on 21 September 1984 and entered service in 1986. Like the Falcon 50, it used three engines, two in pods on the rear fuselage and a third mounted in the tail and fed by an S-shaped duct. The three-engine arrangement gave the aircraft long transoceanic range while allowing it to operate from shorter and higher airfields than many twins, and eased the over-water operating rules of the era. Its wide-body cabin, unusually spacious for its generation, seated around twelve to fourteen passengers in comfort.

Dassault developed the type steadily over the following decades. The Falcon 900B of the early 1990s brought uprated engines and range, and the Falcon 900EX of the later 1990s added more powerful Honeywell TFE731-60 engines for longer legs, followed by the 900EX EASy with a modern Honeywell Primus Epic flight deck. The current production model, the Falcon 900LX, introduced high-Mach blended winglets and offers a range of about 4,750 nautical miles.

Commercially the Falcon 900 has been a durable success, selling steadily across its variants to corporate, private and government operators, and it became a favourite for government and head-of-state transport in many countries, valued partly for the perceived safety margin of a third engine. Dassault drew on its military experience in the aircraft's aerodynamics and digital flight controls.

As of 2026 the Falcon 900, in its 900LX form, remains in production, though at a modest rate late in a long career, as Dassault's newer twin-engine Falcon 6X and 8X take on much of the range once served by the trijets. For enthusiasts the Falcon 900 endures as one of the last of the business-jet trijets, a configuration once common at the top of the market but now rare, and as a design that has stayed in production for some four decades. Its combination of three engines, a wide cabin and long range gives it a character no current twin quite matches.

The Falcon 900's defining feature is its three engines. Two are carried in pods on the sides of the rear fuselage, in the usual business-jet position, while the third sits in the tail and breathes through an S-shaped duct that curves air down from an intake at the base of the fin. This trijet layout, shared with the smaller Falcon 50 and the later Falcon 7X and 8X, is the aircraft's signature and increasingly rare in business aviation.

The engines are Honeywell TFE731 turbofans, in progressively more powerful variants across the family, with the TFE731-60 on the EX and current LX models. Three engines give useful redundancy and strong runway and climb performance, at the cost of a little more complexity and weight than a twin. The cabin is wide for the type's generation, seating around twelve to fourteen and offering a genuine walk-around interior.

The current Falcon 900LX adds tall, high-Mach blended winglets that extend the wingspan and improve efficiency and range. Dassault, drawing on its fighter experience, gave later Falcons digital flight controls and, in the EASy and LX models, the Honeywell Primus Epic flight deck. Normal cruise is around Mach 0.80 to 0.84, with a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.87. Throughout, the design balances long range and a roomy cabin with the field performance and redundancy that the three-engine layout provides.

The Falcon 900 is flown by corporate flight departments, private owners, charter operators and, notably, a large number of governments and air forces, which use it for head-of-state and official transport. The perceived reassurance of a third engine, together with the aircraft's long range and ability to use shorter runways, has made it a popular choice for government VIP fleets in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.

Typical roles are long-range corporate and government travel, including intercontinental and transoceanic sectors that the trijet can fly nonstop. Charter and fractional use is less prominent than for some rivals, as many Falcon 900s are held by single corporate or state operators. As of 2026, with the Falcon 900LX still in production and a large installed base of earlier variants in service, the type remains a common sight at business airports and government terminals worldwide, valued for its cabin, range and distinctive three-engine layout.

The Falcon 900 is easy to identify by its three engines, a layout now rare in business aviation. Two engines sit in pods on the rear fuselage and a third is set in the tail, fed by an S-duct with its intake at the base of the fin, giving a distinctive bulged tail with a central exhaust. Any business jet with three engines is almost certainly a Dassault Falcon.

To separate the Falcon 900 from the larger Falcon 7X and 8X, which share the trijet layout, look at size and wing: the 900 is shorter, and the current 900LX has tall blended winglets, while the 7X and 8X are noticeably longer with a different, more swept wing. Against twin-engine rivals such as the Gulfstream G650 or a Bombardier Global, the engine count settles it at once, as those aircraft have two rear engines and a clean tail rather than three.