Aircraft

^{By Kate Sarsfield in London}

Cirrus Design is planning to extend its product line with the introduction of a business jet. The move is a break with tradition for the airframer, which produces the SR20 and SR22 four-seat light piston singles, and comes as Cirrus clinches European Aviation Safety Agency certification for the SR22, opening a potentially lucrative market for the company.

Duluth, Minnesota-based Cirrus is remaining tight-lipped about the business jet design, for which it is working on a mock-up, and the timetable for its launch. John Bingham, executive vice-president for sales and marketing, says the jet would be targeted at its core owner-flyer market and would be a “relatively straightforward” step up for its SR22 customers as many of the SR features will be adapted for the jet to ease transition.

“This is an entirely new market for us,” Bingham says, “but we have had positive feedback from our customers and are confident that it will be very well received.” Cirrus delivered over 600 aircraft last year, most of them SR22s, and is poised to ramp up production from 12-14 aircraft a week to satisfy demand for the aircraft.

Cirrus’s UK-based European distributor and reassembly partner Britten-Norman is expected to assemble 100 aircraft this year at its Isle Of Wight base.