LAST UPDATE | 16 Dec 2025

THE NEW €53m Government jet has touched down in Ireland this afternoon having flown from Paris.

The jet – a multi-purpose Strategic Reach Aircraft – will replace the ailing Lear Jet which has suffered significant technical difficulties and is also limited in range.

The new aircraft will also halt the need for rented private jets which the Government is using at present. 

Sources have said the jet will be used not just to ferry Ministers to foreign meetings and summits, but also for long distance air ambulance missions and troop transportation in emergencies. 

Manufactured by Dassault Aviation SA, a French aerospace company of long standing in the aviation and defence industries, the Falcon 6X will have a total capacity of 17 and a passenger capacity of 14.

It will be operated by the Irish Air Corps from Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel.

Dassault also builds Rafale fighter jets which are used by the French Air Force and Navy.

A statement from the Department of Defence said the Falcon 6X is a futureproofed, new generation jet aircraft providing improvements in fuel efficiency and carbon emissions.

It’s understood a key consideration in choosing the model of aircraft was the need to for it to be able to perform long-haul flights. 

The cost of the Falcon 6X aircraft is just below €53 million excluding VAT. 

Minister for Defence Helen McEntee welcomed the arrival of the new jet. 

“The aircraft will be used for a broad range of other taskings, including the evacuation of Irish citizens from critical situations, air-ambulance patient transfers, medical evacuation or repatriation of Irish Defence Forces personnel deployed on overseas missions as well as providing logistics support for the transport of supplies to Irish Defence Forces overseas missions.

“The delivery of the Dassault Falcon 6X strategic reach aircraft represents a significant enhancement of the State’s transport, airlift and medical capabilities, and is further evidence of the Government’s ongoing commitment to enhance the capabilities of our Defence Forces,” she said. 

Lieutenant General Rossa Mulcahy, Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces, also welcomed the new capability. 

“The arrival of the Falcon 6X also comes at an important moment in our development as we progress toward becoming an Air Force. It reflects not only an investment in modern equipment, but in the future role, ambition, and operational reach of Ireland’s air capability.

“The Falcon 6X will serve the State for many years to come, and its arrival highlights our commitment to building a modern, responsive, and forward-looking organisation,” he said.