Comparison, all regions, 99 and 614 aircraft tracked
Falcon 8XagainstG650
Two jets often shortlisted together, measured the same way over the same twelve months. The clearest difference is damp air: the middle Falcon 8X at 10 h, the middle G650 at 8 h, though their middle halves still overlap.
Falcon 8XG650
01
Where they differ most.
Every measure, ranked by how far apart the two fleets sit, against the spread inside each.
- 1Damp airCorrosion
The middle Falcon 8X at 10 h, the middle G650 at 8 h. Their middle halves still overlap, from 9 h to 10 h.
See corrosion - 2Hot, high takeoffsEngines and brakes
The middle G650 at 2%, the middle Falcon 8X at 0%. Their middle halves still overlap, from 0% to 1%.
See engines and brakes - 3Near the coastCorrosion
The middle G650 at 29%, the middle Falcon 8X at 9%. Their middle halves still overlap, from 11% to 22%.
See corrosion - 4Leg lengthFatigue
The middle G650 at 661 nm, the middle Falcon 8X at 444 nm. Their middle halves still overlap, from 475 nm to 635 nm.
See fatigue - 5Moisture in the airCorrosion
The middle G650 at 9.4 g/m³, the middle Falcon 8X at 8.3 g/m³. Their middle halves still overlap, from 8.4 g/m³ to 9.3 g/m³.
See corrosion
02
Fatigue.
Context, not graded
On hours per landing, the gap between the types is smaller than the spread inside either fleet: the middle G650 at 2.6 : 1, the middle Falcon 8X at 2.2 : 1.
What each landing and pressurization cycle costs the structure: landings per hour and short hops.
Falcon 8XG650
| Measure | Middle aircraft, and middle half | Where the two fleets sit | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hours per landingEach aircraft’s average flight hours per landing | 2.2 : 11.7–3.0 : 1 2.6 : 12.1–3.3 : 1 | 1.0 : 15.0 : 1 | Close |
| Short hopsShare of legs under 300 nm | 35%28–50% 30%22–41% | 10%70% | Close |
| Leg lengthMedian leg | 444 nm299–635 nm 661 nm475–938 nm | 0 nm2,000 nm | Close |
Every active aircraft of each type in all regions: 56 Falcon 8Xs and 450 G650s. Dots are each fleet’s middle aircraft; bars span the middle half (25th to 75th percentile); hatching marks where the middle halves overlap.
03
Corrosion.
Context, not graded
On salt air, the gap between the types is smaller than the spread inside either fleet: the middle G650 at 4%, the middle Falcon 8X at 2%.
What the air around the fleet does overnight: salt, damp and freeze–thaw.
Falcon 8XG650
| Measure | Middle aircraft, and middle half | Where the two fleets sit | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salt airNights within 2 km of the coast | 2%0–7% 4%1–12% | 0%50% | Close |
| Near the coastNights within 10 km of the coast | 9%3–22% 29%11–58% | 0%100% | Close |
| Damp airHours a day at 80% humidity or more, above freezing | 10.2 h9.2–11.5 h 8.1 h6.8–9.8 h | 4.0 h14.0 h | Differ |
| Freeze–thawNights that froze and thawed within the day | 11%7–22% 5%2–12% | 0%35% | Close |
| Moisture in the airAverage absolute humidity overnight | 8.3 g/m³7.5–9.3 g/m³ 9.4 g/m³8.4–10.6 g/m³ | 6.0 g/m³15.0 g/m³ | Close |
Aircraft we can place on enough nights at known fields: 41 Falcon 8Xs and 341 G650s. Dots are each fleet’s middle aircraft; bars span the middle half (25th to 75th percentile); hatching marks where the middle halves overlap.
04
Engines and brakes.
Context, not graded
On short runways, the gap between the types is smaller than the spread inside either fleet: the middle G650 at 30%, the middle Falcon 8X at 17%.
What departures ask of engines, brakes and tires: heat and height, and runway length.
Falcon 8XG650
| Measure | Middle aircraft, and middle half | Where the two fleets sit | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short runwaysDepartures where the longest runway was under 1.25× the takeoff distance | 17%10–35% 30%17–48% | 0%80% | Close |
| Hot, high takeoffsDepartures at 5,000 ft density altitude or more | 0%0–1% 2%0–4% | 0%15% | Close |
| Density altitudeTypical density altitude at takeoff | 891 ft504–1,349 ft 1,093 ft827–1,456 ft | 0 ft2,500 ft | Close |
Departures we could assess: 55 Falcon 8Xs and 448 G650s. Dots are each fleet’s middle aircraft; bars span the middle half (25th to 75th percentile); hatching marks where the middle halves overlap.
05
Utilization.
Context, not graded
On flights a month, the gap between the types is smaller than the spread inside either fleet: the middle G650 at 7, the middle Falcon 8X at 6.
How steadily each fleet is used: flights, flying days and estimated hours.
Falcon 8XG650
| Measure | Middle aircraft, and middle half | Where the two fleets sit | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flights a monthIn the months it flew | 5.73.6–8.2 6.84.7–9.5 | 0.020.0 | Close |
| Days flown a monthDays with at least one flight | 4.43.0–5.6 5.23.7–6.9 | 2.011.0 | Close |
| Estimated hours a yearFrom time in the air | ≈157 h119–222 h ≈208 h153–283 h | 50 h550 h | Close |
Every active Falcon 8X (56) and G650s with at least 40% of their flights tracked (363). Each type uses the tracking rule its own fleet page uses. Dots are each fleet’s middle aircraft; bars span the middle half (25th to 75th percentile); hatching marks where the middle halves overlap.
Who flies them
Most of the gap comes from who flies them. Privately owned against privately owned, the middle aircraft both make 6 flights a month, against a gap of 1 across the whole fleets.
| Operator type | Falcon 8XShare of fleet · flights a month | G650Share of fleet · flights a month | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fractional | – | – | – | – |
| Charter | – | – | 23% | 7.5 |
| Private and corporate | 70% | 5.9 | 72% | 6.3 |
Flights a month is the middle aircraft within each group; a group of fewer than 30 aircraft shows no figure. Operator type is classified from each aircraft’s registration and flying pattern, for whole fleets only; see the methodology.
Choosing between a Falcon 8X and a G650?
Check both tails, not the types.
Fleets tell you what’s normal. Your shortlist is two particular aircraft. Each has a free record, graded against its own type.
06
Month by month.
Together the two fleets flew 37,133 tracked flights with a known distance: 3,491 by 56 Falcon 8Xs and 33,642 by 450 G650s.
Flights each month
Falcon 8XG650
Flights made by the middle aircraft each month, among the aircraft of each type that flew that month, Aug 2025 to Jul 2026. These are per-aircraft medians, so the two fleets are fair to compare whatever their size. Busiest month: May for the Falcon 8X, September for the G650.
See the figures
| Month | Falcon 8X, middle aircraft | G650, middle aircraft |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 4.0 | 5.0 |
| Sep 2025 | 5.0 | 7.0 |
| Oct 2025 | 5.0 | 7.0 |
| Nov 2025 | 6.0 | 7.0 |
| Dec 2025 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Jan 2026 | 4.0 | 6.0 |
| Feb 2026 | 4.0 | 6.0 |
| Mar 2026 | 4.0 | 7.0 |
| Apr 2026 | 4.0 | 6.0 |
| May 2026 | 7.0 | 6.0 |
| Jun 2026 | 6.0 | 7.0 |
| Jul 2026 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
07
Trip-length mix.
43% of Falcon 8X legs and 33% of G650 legs were under 300 nm, a gap of 10 percentage points; 24% and 40% were over 900 nm.
Share of legs by length in nautical miles, 1 Aug 2025 – 31 Jul 2026: 3,491 legs by 56 Falcon 8Xs and 33,642 legs by 450 G650s, every leg with a known distance. The Falcon 8X's trips bunch at 150–300 nm, the G650's at 1,800+ nm.
08
On paper.
Certified figures come from each type certificate data sheet, the rest from the manufacturer. Each figure names its source; a range covers the variants one page tracks together; a dash means we don’t have a source for that figure yet.
| Figure | Falcon 8X | G650 |
|---|---|---|
| RangeManufacturer | 6,450 nmManufacturer (spec page, Web page, retrieved 22 Oct 2026) | 7,000–7,500 nmManufacturer (archived spec page, 14 Jun 2023) |
| High-speed cruiseManufacturer | —Not in our sources yet | Mach 0.90Manufacturer (archived spec page, 14 Jun 2023) |
| Takeoff distanceManufacturer | 5,880 ftManufacturer (spec page, Web page, retrieved 22 Oct 2026) | 5,858–6,299 ftManufacturer (archived spec page, 14 Jun 2023) |
| Cabin lengthManufacturer | 42 ft 8 inManufacturer (spec page, Web page, retrieved 22 Oct 2026) | 46 ft 10 inManufacturer (archived spec page, 14 Jun 2023) |
| Maximum takeoff weightCertified | 73,000 lbUK CAA TCDS UK.TC.A.00162 Issue 01, p.16 | 99,600–103,600 lbEASA TCDS EASA.IM.A.169 Issue 17, p.17 |
| Fuel capacityCertified | 35,141 lbUK CAA TCDS UK.TC.A.00162 Issue 01, p.14 | 44,200–48,200 lbEASA TCDS EASA.IM.A.169 Issue 17, p.14 |
| Maximum operating altitudeCertified | 51,000 ftUK CAA TCDS UK.TC.A.00162 Issue 01, p.14 | 51,000 ftEASA TCDS EASA.IM.A.169 Issue 17, p.14 |
| Passenger seatsCertified | Up to 19UK CAA TCDS UK.TC.A.00162 Issue 01, p.17 | Up to 19EASA TCDS EASA.IM.A.169 Issue 17, p.18 |
09
Questions.
Cite this data
The Aircraft Ledger. “Dassault Falcon 8X vs Gulfstream G650/G650ER.” Data to 31 July 2026. theaircraftledger.com/compare/dassault-falcon-8x-vs-gulfstream-g650
Which is flown more, the Falcon 8X or the G650?
The G650, by about 51 estimated hours a year: the middle G650 flew ≈208 h a year, the middle Falcon 8X ≈157 h. That is a fleet median: the middle half of G650s logged 153–283 h and of Falcon 8Xs 119–222 h, so one aircraft can sit far from its type. In flights, the medians are 6 a month for the Falcon 8X and 7 for the G650.
Which lands more often for its hours, the Falcon 8X or the G650?
The Falcon 8X: its middle aircraft flies 2.2 hours per landing, against 2.6 for the G650, 0.4 hours fewer per landing. More landings per hour means more pressurization cycles for the same time in the air. Short hops, legs under 300 nm, make up 35% of the middle Falcon 8X's legs and 30% of the middle G650's.
Which flies longer trips, the Falcon 8X or the G650?
The G650, by 217 nm on the median leg: 661 nm for the middle aircraft, against 444 nm for the Falcon 8X. 43% of Falcon 8X legs and 33% of G650 legs were under 300 nm, a gap of 10 percentage points; 24% and 40% were over 900 nm.
Which spends more nights by the sea, the Falcon 8X or the G650?
The G650, by 2 percentage points: its middle aircraft spends 4% of its nights within 2 km of the coast, the middle Falcon 8X 2%. Salt air is one of the corrosion inputs a TailCheck report grades for one aircraft against its own type.
Which has the longer range on paper, the Falcon 8X or the G650?
The manufacturers quote 6,450 nm for the Falcon 8X and 7,000–7,500 nm for the G650. Those are book figures at stated conditions; how far the fleets actually fly is in the trip-length mix above.
Does this comparison include the G650ER?
Yes. The tracking data doesn't tell the G650 and G650ER apart, so the G650 figures here cover all of them. The specs table names a figure’s variants where the sources separate them.
Method: Falcon 8Xs and G650s in every region, from flight data. Flight measures cover 1 Aug 2025 – 31 Jul 2026; each figure is the median of its own fleet, with the middle half (25th–75th percentile). Estimated hours from time in the air. We assume the longest runway at each field, so short-runway figures are conservative. Specifications from type certificate data sheets and the manufacturers, each cited. About our data