Cessna Aircraft Company has celebrated the delivery of its 5,000th Citation light business jet, hailing the milestone as a demonstration of its leadership in the light jet market.

The Citation M2 was delivered to Helitrip Charter, which is leasing the aircraft to Catreus, an established charter operator based in the UK. 

Cessna is a subsidiary of Textron Aviation of the US.

To celebrate this milestone, Textron Aviation, Helitrip and Catreus held a special ceremony at the Textron Aviation headquarters in Wichita.

“We are thrilled Catreus will be operating another M2, as the M2’s excellent combination of range and efficiency will be a great addition to their fleet to help meet their growing customer base”, said Kriya Shortt, senior vice president, Sales and Marketing. “Cessna’s innovative spirit transformed the light jet segment, and we continue to demonstrate our leadership in this segment by bringing products to market that our customers want and need.  The 5,000th Citation light jet delivery reiterates that our company remains the indisputable leader with decades of proven performance, reliability and versatility.”

Catreus currently manages and operates a mixed fleet of aircraft, which includes the Cessna Citation Mustang, Citation M2, Citation Bravo, Citation Excel, Citation XLS and Citation XLS+ business jets. Catreus’ combined aircraft fleet now operates approximately 3,000 charter hours a year.

“We are delighted to add another Citation M2 to our fleet. After bringing the first M2 into the U.K. last year, we have seen an increase in demand for the aircraft. Adding a second M2 to the fleet will now allow us to meet the demand,” said Cy Williams, CEO, Catreus. “We have recently been approved as the first operator to operate the M2 out of London City, which means our entire fleet is now London City approved. We look forward to our continued relationship with Textron Aviation.”

Cessna entered the light jet segment in 1972 when the company delivered its first Citation. Since then, the Citation light jets have continued to lead the light jet segment, to include the Citation I, Citation II, Citation Bravo, Citation S/II, Citation V, Citation Ultra, Citation Encore, Citation Encore+ and the CJ family. Cessna’s current light jets – the Mustang, M2, CJ3+ and CJ4 – are all single-pilot certified and ideal for corporate, charter or private use.

Cessna continues to lead the light jet segment, with 5,000 light jets around the world, offering customers the broadest range of products on the market. From the popular entry level Citation Mustang and Citation M2 jets, to the upgraded efficiency and comfort of the CJ3+ and the top performing CJ4, Cessna’s Citation family of light business jets has evolved to offer a range of capabilities, systems and options unmatched in its class.

Cessna’s Citation series of jets is the most popular line of business jets ever produced, with more than 7,000 jets that have been designed, manufactured and delivered to customers around the world. Citations are the largest fleet of business jets in the world and have surpassed 31 million flight hours.