Company Plans To Deliver 32 Aircraft By Year's End

Nextant Aerospace announced that it has delivered the tenth production 400XT, just seven months after receiving FAA certification. The company says it plans to deliver 32 aircraft by the end of 2012. Now that production is fully underway, Nextant's staff is up over 150; each aircraft requires almost 6,000 man-hours to produce due to the extensive remanufacturing process. The end result is essentially a new aircraft after zero-timing all life-limited components.

Jay Heublein, VP of sales and marketing for Nextant says "We've been gratified by the market's recognition of the benefits achieved through our complete aircraft remanufacturing process. Today's business jet customers increasingly demand superior value-both in terms of acquisition cost, operating economics, performance and comfort. The 400XT is the only light jet that truly offers all of these features in one complete package."

The Wall St. Journal reports that Nextant recently announced the acquisition of a larger remanufacturing facility for the 400XT. The new facility, at Cleveland's Cuyahoga County Airport, will accommodate an annual production rate of 48 aircraft to meet higher than projected demand for the 400XT. Nextant's current book of orders is approaching 70 aircraft to be delivered over the next five years.

The 400XT gets a performance boost by replacing the original Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15 turbofans with state-of-the-art Williams FJ44-3AP engines. The 400XT has a range of 2,005 nautical miles and cruising speed of 460 kts. Its operating costs are 30 percent lower than the Beechjet 400XP with a 20 – 30 percent lower fuel burn depending on length of flight segment. The avionics have been upgraded to the Rockwell Colling Pro Line 21 suite. The lower fuel consumption means less carbon emissions and the new engines exceed Stage IV requirements.

FMI: www.nextantaerospace.com