Equally exciting is the announcement that NetJets has been named the fleet launch customer for Textron Aviation’s newest jet — the Citation Ascend. Deliveries of the Citation Ascend are expected to begin in 2025 when the aircraft, currently under development, is expected to enter service.
Cessna Citation business jets are designed, produced, and delivered by Textron Aviation Inc. NetJets is a Berkshire Hathaway company that sells fractional ownership shares in private business jets.
Since the inception of the more than 40-year relationship between the companies, NetJets has taken delivery of more than 800 aircraft from Textron Aviation, including exercising over 300 options for Citation Latitudes and Longitudes during the past eight years. Through the years, NetJets has owned and operated industry-leading Citations including the Citation SII, V, Excel/XLS, Sovereign, X, Latitude and Longitude models.
“Based on past demand for the popular Citation Latitude and Longitude, the new Ascend and all our new Citations will undoubtedly be well received by our owners, particularly those who depend on NetJets to help them do more and miss less,” said Doug Henneberry, NetJets executive vice president, Aircraft Asset Management.
There are currently six Citation models in production: Citation M2 Gen2, Citation CJ3+, Citation CJ4 Gen2, Citation XLS Gen2, Citation Latitude and Citation Longitude, with the Citation Ascend under development.
The New Citation Ascend
The Citation Ascend is designed to bring an entirely new cockpit, improved performance, and a more luxurious cabin to the midsize business jet market.\
The aircraft will offer Pratt & Whitney Canada PW545D engines designed to deliver fuel efficiency and increased thrust, as well as state-of-the-art Garmin G5000 avionics that feature the latest software and hardware, including autothrottle technology. The Ascend also features a Honeywell RE100 [XL] Auxiliary Power Unit approved for unattended operations.
