Newest Citation 560XL Series Expects Certification This Year

Textron Aviation announced the rollout of the first production unit of its new Citation Ascend business jet from its manufacturing facility in Wichita, Kansas. The FAA is expected to certify the aircraft later this year.

The Citation Ascend is the newest member of the 560XL series of business jets, and employees held a special celebration to note the program milestone.

Cessna has delivered more than 1,000 of the 560XL series over the past quarter century, and the company notes its performance, comfort, ease of operation, range of mission capabilities, and its operating efficiencies. The new Ascend model was designed based on customer feedback for enhanced performance and comfort.

Todd McKee, Senior Vice President, Integrated Supply Chain said, “Today is a big celebration and thank you to everyone who has been a part of building up to this point. It is your craftsmanship that continues to make milestones like this possible. By infusing new technology and bringing new features to the market, we continue to drive the future for us to build these legendary aircraft.”

The Citation Ascend is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW545D engines and is equipped with the Garmin G5000 avionics suite with the latest hardware and software including autothrottle technology. The aircraft also has a Honeywell RE100 [XL] APU approved for unattended operations.

The standard seating configuration is for nine passengers, and there are 19 standard USB charging ports and three universal outlets to provide every passenger and crew member with a port.

FMI:  txtav.com/