How much a Dassault Falcon 900 costs: purchase price and upkeep

The type has been in production for more than forty years, and the price spread inside it runs fivefold: entry on the pre-owned market starts at about $8.8 million, late aircraft reach $45 million, and a new 900LX cost around $44.7 million on the 2023 list. All of this is to my information, from the open marketplaces. Here is what makes up the difference, what the third engine costs in a year, and at what annual hours ownership adds up.

The price corridor on the type

Prices are market benchmarks, to my information. The breakdown inside the corridor by version letter comes from the live listings on the date of the deal: it moves faster than the reference books. The value of a particular aircraft is calculated from its records, time flown and specification.

The technical review and the seven versions of the type are in the article on Falcon 900 specifications; the full data is on the model page.

What makes up the thirty-six-million spread

The version letter. This is the first thing that moves the price, and it moves it harder than the year of build does. The 900EX and the 900LX are different aircraft on range: 4 500 nautical miles against 4 750, winglets, different generations of avionics. Inside the $8.8–45 million corridor the version letter accounts for most of the spread.

The EASy flight deck. The move to the Honeywell Primus Epic suite happened in 2004, and the 900EX EASy was built until 2009. Pre-EASy aircraft and aircraft with the EASy deck are listed at different prices on the same airframe and the same engines: the difference falls on the avionics and on the age of the aircraft that carry them.

The remaining life on three engines. The breakdown is below; this is separate money.

Upgrades for the current communication and surveillance requirements. On early aircraft the kit is installed separately, and the work is measured in weeks on the ground. The order of the sums, to my information: an ADS-B Out and FANS 1/A kit on a mid-size Hawker 800 — $200–350 thousand, on a large Challenger 604 — $600 thousand to $1 million, on an ultra-long-range Global Express — $0.7–1.2 million. On the Falcon 900 the scope is calculated for the particular aircraft: it depends on the original avionics fit and on whether the aircraft carries the EASy deck. Ask the service centre for a quote before the deal.

The cabin. Refurbishing the interior of a large aircraft costs as much as a decent light jet. An aircraft with a fresh finish and an aircraft with a fifteen-year-old cabin part company in price by that amount.

Operating history. Government aircraft and special-mission aircraft flew a different profile: short legs, many cycles, long periods parked. Airframe cycles are read separately from hours, and gaps in the records and outstanding service bulletins come off the price line by line.

The third engine: what it costs in a year

Three Honeywell TFE731s give a margin of thrust and access to short runways. In the budget they give three work plans, three remaining lives and three line items.

The order of the figures across the TFE731 family without an hourly cost programme, to my information: an overhaul of one TFE731-5BR engine — $700 thousand to $1 million. That is the same engine that stands on the 900B. Multiply by three.

Hence the practical rule. A maintenance programme turns a rare large payment into a level hourly contribution, and the market prices that quite specifically: an aircraft outside a programme trades at a discount, and buying into a programme retroactively costs more than continuous participation. If an aircraft has no programme, the annual budget is calculated with a reserve of your own at the same rate. Leave it out and you have undercounted.

On this type it looks like this: three engines instead of two add about half again to the engine line of the budget at the same annual hours. That is why the 900 is cheaper on the pre-owned market than you expect from the size of the cabin: the market takes part of the price off in advance, against future engine work.

The Falcon 900 next to its neighbours by cabin

The market data is from August 2026, to my information.

The Falcon 900 stands apart in this row for one reason: the 8 800 km range of the 900LX is longer than any of the others here, and the runway requirement is lower. The owner pays for that with a third set of engine work.

The direct comparison on money comes out with the Challenger 604 and the Legacy 600: they are cheaper at entry and run on two engines. The Falcon 900 takes from them the routes where range and a short runway are needed at once.

What upkeep covers

Upkeep is calculated from four inputs of your own: how many hours a year the aircraft flies, where it is based, who maintains it and what the crew complement is. An averaged market figure does not adjust to those inputs, and a decision made on it lands tens of per cent away from the fact.

The fixed part runs regardless of hours. Crew — two pilots and a cabin attendant. Hangar, insurance, calendar checks, continuing airworthiness, aircraft management. Calendar work falls due by the calendar: the aircraft has stood a year on the ground and the checks have come round all the same.

The variable part is counted from hours. Fuel, line maintenance, contributions to the engine and APU programmes, ground handling at the airports of arrival.

Airport charges are counted from the maximum takeoff weight. Composites are used widely in the Falcon 900 airframe, and for a large aircraft with fourteen seats it came out light. At expensive European hubs the difference in weight adds up over a year to a noticeable sum, and here the type plays in your favour. Take the exact takeoff weight of your candidate from its flight manual: specification and modifications change it.

Annual hours decide the most. At a hundred hours a year the fixed part falls on each hour as a hundredth, at four hundred as a four-hundredth. The aircraft is the same, and the cost of an hour differs by a factor of four. The charter rate on the type works as the upper bound of the full cost of an hour: the operator has already built the direct costs, the reserves and the margin into it.

When the type works out on the money

On large aircraft of this size the economic sense of owning an aircraft appears at about 200–350 hours a year. Below that line it is more honest to price charter or fractional schemes.

The second condition is routes that use range and a short runway together. For an owner flying Europe — Middle East and Europe — Asia with stops at airfields in the mountains, the type pays for its third engine. For an owner with lowland hubs and legs of up to four hours the same money works better in a twin.

What to do

• Set the budget inside the $8.8–45 million range and convert it straight into a version letter: 900EX, 900EX EASy or 900LX.
• Collect the airframe time in hours and cycles for each candidate, and the remaining life on each of the three engines.
• Check the status of the hourly cost programmes: separately for each engine, separately for the APU.
• Clarify the avionics fit and the scope of upgrades for your airspaces.
• Compare the final cost of ownership against charter over your actual route network for the past two years.
• Ask for the records before the conversation about price.

The figures are benchmarks; the specifics are calculated for the individual aircraft.

Alexander Filimonov — business aviation: sourcing, acquisition and entry into service of aircraft.

A buyer's checklist, 29 checks before the deal — what I work through myself on an inspection: https://grok.flights/en/checklist.html