The Irish Department of Defence has ordered a single Falcon 6X from Dassault Aviation as the new VIP aircraft. Delivery is scheduled for December 2025, and the aircraft will be in service before the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2026.
The government said that the aircraft will cost EUR53 million euros (USD55.1 million) plus value-added tax, around EUR8 million (USD8.32 million) above the initial budget.
"It will be used for a wide range of tasks, including the non-combatant evacuation of Irish citizens from critical situations, air-ambulance patient transfers, medical evacuation or repatriation of Irish Defence Forces personnel deployed on overseas missions, and logistics support for the transport of supplies to Irish Defence Forces overseas missions," the Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin said. "In addition, it will provide an independent and flexible air transport service, which is an increasingly essential requirement to assist the government in meeting our national and international obligations."
The aircraft will seat up to 14 passengers and three crew members. It will be operated by the country's air force, the Irish Air Corps.
The aircraft will replace Learjet 45 258 (msn 45-234). At 21 years of age, the latter has been in service with the Irish Air Corps since 2004 but has become increasingly unreliable and has not operated any VIP charters so far this year.
