News
European Citation Fleet on Target to Surpass 1,000 This Year

July 10, 2008, Wichita, KS – The European fleet of business jets manufactured by Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. company, will surpass 1,000 units by the end of 2008.

Cessna will showcase its line of Citation business jets, along with the company's single-engine pistons and turboprops, with an expanded display at the Farnborough International Airshow July 14-20. The exhibit will include a: Citation X, Citation XLS, Citation CJ2+, Citation Mustang, Grand Caravan, Cessna 400, Stationair, Skylane and Skyhawk. Additionally, Cessna is showing a cabin mock-up of the new Citation Columbus large cabin business jet.

"Europe is the largest market for Cessna products outside of North America," said Cessna Chairman, President and CEO Jack Pelton. The European Union is home to many large-scale exporters – creating a need for extensive use of business aircraft both within and outside the region."

Currently there are more than 900 Citations in Europe, representing 57 percent of the total European business jet fleet. Cessna plans to deliver 121 new business jets to Europe in 2008, with the top sellers being the Citation XLS+, CJ3, CJ2+, Sovereign and Mustang.

"We see the potential for significant development in the population of the European business jet market, from small to transcontinental, during the next 10 to 20 years," Pelton said. "Based on our commitments so far, we expect to add about 100-125 Citations each year during the next two or three years. To support this growth, we have progressively built a considerable service presence, both with our own facility in Europe as well as with independent maintenance providers. We recognize that service is a strong reason for our high level of customer retention and satisfaction, and that allows us to move customers up through the Citation family."

The global fleet of more than 5,200 Citations is the largest fleet of business jets in the world. Citation deliveries reached 387 in 2007, up from 307 in 2006 and an increase of 50 percent over 2005. Cessna plans to deliver 470 business jets by the end of 2008.
The company took a record 773 business jet orders in 2007 and, for the first time, Citation orders outside the United States account for more than half of Cessna's backlog.