Business & GA

Cessna XLS+ business jet wins US certification

By Kate Sarsfield

Cessna has clinched US certification for the Citation XLS+ business jet a decade after the first version of the superlight aircraft - the Excel - entered service.

The Excel/XLS fleet totals around 650 aircraft to date, with an accumulated flight time of more than 1.4 million hours, says Cessna.

The XLS+ features Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics and two full-authority digitally controlled Pratt & Whitney Canada 545C engines. The first XLS+ is scheduled for delivery before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Cessna says it received orders totalling nearly $750 million at the EBACE business aviation convention in Geneva, Switzerland last month. The tally includes 70 Citations, 14 Caravan single-engined turboprops and four piston singles.