Emmanuel Macron's Dassault Falcon 7X F-RAFA flies 42 nm from Hamad to Doha International

Emmanuel Macron / French Presidential Flight's Dassault Falcon 7X, tail number F-RAFA, flew from Hamad International Airport (OTHH) in Doha, Qatar, to Doha International Airport (OTBD) on Tuesday, October 20, 2026. The aircraft departed at 14:31 UTC and arrived at 17:53 UTC. The flight took 3 hours and 22 minutes.

The great-circle distance between the two airports is only 42 nautical miles, or 48 miles. The aircraft reached a top speed of 506 knots and a maximum altitude of 32,000 feet. Our estimate for fuel burned is about 844 US gallons, producing about 8.1 metric tons of CO2. That is about the same as driving a car 20,060 miles. The Dassault Falcon 7X is an ultra-long-range trijet with a range of 5,950 nautical miles and a ceiling of 51,000 feet. It typically seats 12 to 16 passengers.

This was the first landing at Doha International Airport by any of Emmanuel Macron / French Presidential Flight's aircraft in the tracked window from October 4 to October 20, 2026. The home base for the fleet is Paris-Le Bourget International Airport (LFPB) in France. Usual destinations on file include London Heathrow, Munich, Madrid, Rome, Moscow, and Beijing. In the 30 days before this flight, the owner's aircraft visited 31 airports in 9 countries and flew about 31,318 nautical miles. The longest leg in that period was a 4,600-nautical-mile flight from Istres, France, to Vancouver by the Airbus A330-243 F-UJCU on October 5.

Emmanuel Macron has led France since 2017 and is a regular attendee at G7, NATO, and EU summits. His VIP air fleet is operated by ETEC from Paris Le Bourget and includes two Airbus A330-223s and several Dassault Falcon jets. The French president has faced domestic criticism over flying privately to meetings on sustainability. Doha International Airport is a major hub in Qatar, a country that frequently hosts diplomatic and business delegations. No public events tied to Emmanuel Macron or the French government were announced in Doha on this date.

The flight from Hamad International to Doha International used only 1 percent of the aircraft's range. The aircraft spent about 5 hours on the ground at Zallaq before this flight, following a previous landing there on October 20.

The Dassault Falcon 7X is a trijet with fly-by-wire controls and three living areas. Its top speed is Mach 0.90, or 497 knots. The aircraft burns an estimated 250 US gallons of fuel per hour. The flight from Hamad International to Doha International had an average ground speed of just 12 knots.

Hamad International Airport has a longest runway of 15,912 feet and an elevation of 13 feet. Doha International Airport's longest runway is 15,000 feet, with an elevation of 35 feet. The distance from the home base at Paris-Le Bourget to Doha International is 2,686 nautical miles.

In the tracked window from October 4 to October 20, 2026, the owner's four aircraft made 34 flights. The most common destinations were Fauville, Eure, with 4 landings; Paris Orly, with 4 landings; and Vancouver, with 3 landings. On October 20, the same Dassault Falcon 7X flew from Abu Dhabi to Zallaq in 56 minutes, covering 243 nautical miles.