Cessna Sets Industry Record with 1,000th European Citation Delivery
WICHITA, Kan., Dec. 16,
2008 - Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, this
week became the first business aircraft manufacturer to achieve a European
fleet size of 1,000 jets, with the delivery of a Citation XLS to Turkish
charter operator BONAIR. BONAIR president Ateş Hanibu was presented with the
aircraft in a ceremony yesterday at Cessna’s manufacturing facility in
Wichita, Kansas, by Cessna Chairman, President and CEO Jack J. Pelton,
Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Roger Whyte, and Vice President
of International Sales, Trevor Esling. BONAIR, which is based in Florya,
Istanbul, has operated Cessnas in its fleet for 22 years and considers
itself part of the Cessna family. BONAIR has added the Citation XLS to its
fleet to meet the rising demand for business aviation in Turkey.
“BONAIR has enjoyed great success in meeting the air travel needs of
Turkey’s business leaders. The Citation Bravo and Cessna Caravan have both
performed well for us, and we are delighted to now offer the additional
cabin space and range of the Citation XLS,” Hanibu said. “This delivery
marks a significant milestone both for Cessna and our industry. It
underlines that European companies increasingly value business aviation as a
tool when time is of the essence and further demonstrates how well suited
the Citation product family is for the travel requirements of the region. We
are proud of the strong relationships we enjoy with European customers and
look forward to the continued growth of our fleet,” Pelton said. Globally,
Cessna has to date deliver ed more than 5,400 Citations, making it the
largest fleet of business jets in the world.
