Dassault Aviation, the sole European maker of corporate jets, on Tuesday unveiled its Falcon 7X long-range business jet designed to challenge the leading North American makers Gulfstream of the US and Canada's Bombardier at the top end of the world business aviation market.

The roll-out of the Dassault aircraft, the French group's first all-new business jet for more than a decade, comes only weeks after the official unveiling of the Airbus A380 superjumbo, in nearby Toulouse and further intensifies the European challenge to the American civil aerospace industry.