PROVIDENCE – Textron Inc. says its Wichita, Kan.-based Cessna Aircraft Co. will ramp up production of its Citation X business jet by more than 65 percent over the next five years.
Roger Whyte, Cessna’s senior vice president of sales and marketing, credited the plane’s success to its “exceptional speed, reliability and cabin comfort.” With a top speed of 0.92 Mach, the Citation X is the world’s fastest business jet.
More than 260 Citation Xs have been delivered to customers around the world; the backlog of orders now extends well into 2008.
Cessna last year delivered 1,239 aircraft, including 307 business jets. This year, it expects to deliver 375 business jets. The market abroad for such aircraft continues to grow, Whyte said. “As an example, business jet orders outside the U.S. accounted for 48 percent of our total orders last year.”
Since its founding in 1927, Cessna Aircraft Co. has delivered more than 189,000 airplanes to nearly every country in the world. Additional information about Cessna is available at www.cessna.com; information about parent company Textron Inc. and its other business units is available at www.textron.com.
