The Cessna Citation Mustang was granted certification by both Transport Canada and the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau last week, paving the way for deliveries in the two countries. Cessna said the current active fleet of Citation Mustangs totals 130 aircraft and has accumulated more than 19,000 flight hours, with the high-time aircraft logging more than 500 hours. The Mustang is now certified in 51 countries.
The six-place Citation Mustang has a top speed of 340 knots (630 kilometers per hour), a range of 1,150 nautical miles (2,130 kilometers) with NBAA IFR Reserves and a service ceiling of 41,000 feet (12,497 meters), enabling more efficient operations above most weather and commercial traffic. The aircraft features a Garmin G1000 system that includes two 10-inch primary flight displays, one 15-inch multi-function display and the integrated GFC700 dual-channel, fail passive, digital autopilot.
Cessna also delivered the first of two Mustang to new air charter operator Lebanon’s Open Sky during the recent 2008 Middle East Business Aviation show (MEBA) in Dubai. Open Sky Aviation will take delivery of its second Citation Mustang in June 2009.
Open Sky Aviation’s chief executive officer Haytham Azhari took delivery of the company’s first Citation Mustang in Wichita, Kansas, on September 26. Open Sky Aviation will start commercial operations from Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport next month, and become the first air charter operator in the Middle East to offer entry-level business jet services.
“For a pioneering business, we are delighted to have launched with a pioneering aircraft,” said Azhari. “Our strategy is to broaden the market for business aviation by offering a natural step up for travelers who presently fly scheduled across the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean. With the Citation Mustang we are able to offer business jet performance and comfort but at a price that is very attractive to many business and leisure travelers.”
“The Citation Mustang is proving a popular and successful choice with charter companies across the world,” said Cessna’s vice president for International Sales, Trevor Esling. “By offering in a more compact package the usual Citation virtues of performance, reliability and value, the Mustang has found favor with operators and passengers alike. We wish Open Sky Aviation great success and look forward to playing a role in its growth.”
The delivery comes on the heels of a new customer program. Cessna recently partners with Cessna Finance Corporation to offer Mustang customers a lease on a Cessna 400 during the time between order and delivery of their new Mustang with no purchase obligation for the Cessna 400.
“This is a great solution for Mustang customers who are waiting to take delivery yet have an immediate need for an aircraft. The Cessna 400 is the fastest fixed-gear single-engine piston on the market today, and is a natural stepping stone into the Mustang,” said Tom Aniello, Cessna’s vice president, Marketing.
Last month at the National Business Aviation Association Meeting and Convention, Cessna announced it has an average of three Mustangs rolling off the production line each week at its Independence, Kan., manufacturing facility. At full rate, employees on the Mustang line are scheduled to deliver 150 entry-level business jets per year starting in 2009.