Europe's JetAlliance Orders 25 Cessna Business Jets

posted: 24 May 2007 06:00 pm ET

: JetAlliance's $280 million order for 25 Cessna Citation business jets, announced at the European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition in Geneva, included six Citation CJ2+ jets, as well as one CJ1+, five CJ3s, three Citation XLS+ jets, one Sovereign, two Citation Xs and seven Citation Mustangs. Credit: Cessna Aircraft

European business jet charter operator JetAlliance has ordered 25 Cessna Citation business jets valued at $280 million in terms of aircraft list price.

The order is comprised of one Citation Jet (CJ) 1+ aircraft, six CJ2+ bizjets, five CJ3s, three XLS+ jets, one Sovereign, two Citation X aircraft, and seven Citation Mustang very light jets.

Deliveries of the aircraft to JetAlliance will take place in 2009 and 2010.

"These aircraft will be used to further extend our reach into eastern and central Europe," said Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer, JetAlliance's chief executive officer.

JetAlliance, based in Vienna, Austria, is the third largest charter operator in Europe and is an authorized Cessna sales representative.

Cessna Aircraft, a subsidiary of Textron, announced the order yesterday at the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva.

Based on aircraft numbers sold, Cessna Aircraft Company is the world's largest manufacturer of general aviation airplanes. In 2006, it delivered 1,239 aircraft, including 307 Citation business jets.

Last year Cessna reported revenues of about $4.2 billion and an order backlog of $8.5 billion.

Since the company was originally established in 1927, it has delivered more than 189,000 Cessna airplanes. Cessna has delivered aircraft to nearly every country in the world.

The global fleet of almost 5,000 Citations is the largest fleet of business jets in the world, according to Cessna.