In a move that caught most in the aviation industry flat-footed, Cessna announced a new bizjet model late Monday. The Citation M2 is said to bridge the gap between the $3 million Mustang entry-level jet and the $7 million CJ series and it will compete directly with the Embraer Phenom 100, offering a little more range and speed. Cessna is putting the M2 on the market at $4.195 million, about $500,000 more than the Phenom 100. “Operator feedback and owner insight have indicated a market for a Citation with the size, speed and range of the Citation M2. We expect to see customers new to the Citation family, Mustang owners looking for a logical next step or CJ1+ operators who want a new, more advanced Citation,” said Scott Ernest, Cessna president and CEO.
What that $4.2 million gets you is what appears to be a four-passenger aircraft that Cessna says can seat “up to six passengers” with two crew, 1,300 nm range, a 400-knot cruise and 41,000 feet. It’s powered by Williams FJ-44 1AP-21 engines that offer improved range over earlier models. Cockpit is based on the Garmin G3000 with whopping 14-inch PFD and MFD displays and infrared touch-screen controls. Cessna will have a mock-up on display at NBAA 2011 in Las Vegas later this month.
