Saint Cloud, Dassault Aviation has appointed Mr. Renaud Cloatre as the new Sales Director for the Middle East region, based in Dubai. The new appointment comes as the company establishes its new regional sales office in the Dubai Airport Free Zone.

Dassault delivered a total of 21 large cabin Falcons in the last three years in the Middle East, growing the regional fleet by more than 60 per cent. Dassault Falcon currently has around 50 business jets based in the region and expects this number to grow significantly over the next three years.

Cloatre has taken over the Sales Director position from Mr. Gerard Gallice, who set up the Dassault Falcon operation in the Middle East and has retired after 19 years with the company.

Commenting on the new appointment, John Rosanvallon, President and CEO of Dassault Falcon, said, "Renaud brings to this position a deep understanding and passion for aviation and he is assuming this position at a very good time for Dassault in the Middle East. Over the past six months, we’ve seen some very promising signs of a recovery in the region. Dassault has a significant backlog of orders in the region and we expect to grow the current fleet of 50 Falcons by almost 50 per cent over the next three years.”

Dassault's growing presence in the Middle East led to the company’s decision to establish a dedicated spare parts distribution center and a sales office in Dubai in 2008. The regional inventory is now worth more than US $1.5 million and includes most of the high replacement items. The worldwide spare parts distribution center network includes the Dubai center and nine other locations.

"Dubai is unique because of the expanding Dassault Falcon fleet based there, but it is also a popular stopover point for transiting aircraft flying from the Asia-Pacific region to Europe," said Jacques Chauvet, Senior Vice President, Customer Service, Dassault Falcon. "With 50 aircraft already based in the region and this number set to grow significantly in the next few years, we are currently evaluating several new potential Authorized Service Centers (ASC) for the Middle East to expand our global ASC network.”

About Renaud Cloatre:

Cloatre joined Dassault Aviation in 2001 and served as sales Manager in the Customer service department where he contributed significantly to the success of FalconCare, a worldwide guaranteed maintenance cost and service program for new Falcons. He started his career as a supply and service manager at EADS in Washington, DC. Cloatre is a graduate of the ICN business school in Nancy, France after serving as an Air Cadet pilot in the French Navy. He is a licensed glider pilot and private pilot, and flies his own Cessna 337.

Source: Press Release (Dassault Aviation)