Dassault Aviation Posts Record 2024 Results but CEO Warns of U.S. Tariff and EU Policy Risks

Dassault Aviation reported record financial results for 2024. Net revenues rose nearly 30% to €6.2 billion, and net earnings rose 19% to just under €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion). The company closed the year with a record order backlog of €43.2 billion, driven by demand for Falcon business jets and Rafale fighters.

Dassault delivered 31 Falcon jets in 2024, up from 26 in 2023, including the first delivery of the new Falcon 6X. It secured 26 new Falcon orders versus 23 in 2023. On the defense side, Dassault signed 30 new Rafale export orders in 2024 and delivered 21 aircraft, with Indonesia and Serbia among the new customers. It expects to deliver 14 more Rafale F4 aircraft in 2025, with 56 additional deliveries planned under current contracts.

CEO Éric Trappier told a Paris press conference that the arrival of the new Trump Administration is the most concerning political development. The administration's declared intention to impose 25% tariffs on European Union goods, including French-made Falcon jets, could undermine Dassault's goal of delivering 40 Falcons in 2025. Trappier also cited a possible breach in the long-standing U.S.-France defense alliance as a source of uncertainty. He noted that rival Bombardier has already adjusted its 2025 forecast because of tariffs on Canadian goods.

Trappier also criticized the EU's exclusion of business aviation from its taxonomy policy, which determines which industries are eligible for support in decarbonization efforts, calling it "scandalous" and noting that U.S.-made business jets are not penalized in the same way. Dassault is leading a legal case against the European Commission in the European Court of Justice to challenge the exclusion. He said Dassault uses sustainable aviation fuel in its aircraft yet still faces criticism from environmental groups.

Dassault recruited nearly 2,400 employees in 2024, including 239 apprentices, but may scale back hiring in 2025 because of uncertainty over tariffs and Falcon deliveries in the U.S.

On product development, Dassault is stepping up manufacturing of the first development Falcon 10X large-cabin aircraft and preparing the mechanical test cell. Rolls-Royce completed the test campaign for the Pearl 10X engines in 2024, and Dassault is targeting initial Falcon 10X deliveries by the end of 2027.

In India, the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited joint venture is manufacturing airframe sections for the Falcon 2000 and 8X, with a final assembly line under consideration. Dynamatic and Mahindra & Mahindra supply Falcon 6X components, including fuel tanks and side consoles.

Dassault's year shows a manufacturer with strong demand and a policy problem at the same time. A backlog of €43.2 billion gives visibility, but the 40-Falcon target for 2025 depends on whether a U.S. tariff on EU goods is actually applied to business jets, since the United States is a market where Falcon deliveries are at stake. Business-jet makers outside the United States generally sell into the largest fleet in the world, so a tariff on that route weighs on delivery timing and pricing before it shows up in orders.

The EU taxonomy dispute adds a second front. Exclusion from the list of activities eligible for decarbonization support affects how European manufacturers can finance and present their sustainability work, and Trappier's point that U.S.-made jets face no equivalent penalty frames it as a competitive issue. The case Dassault is leading in the European Court of Justice is the dated process to follow on that question.

The next concrete signals are the tariff decision itself, Dassault's disclosure of U.S. content in Falcon jets, and whether hiring is in fact scaled back in 2025.