Textron Aviation Unveils Cessna Citation Ascend in Geneva

The $16.25-million Cessna Citation Ascend by Textron Aviation will be the fifth-generation Citation 560XL when it arrives in 2025.

Fred George

Monday, May 22, 2023 at 05:40 AM ET

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Textron Aviation's Cessna Citation Ascend continues the XLS line with a new model that is planned to enter service in 2025. [Textron Aviation]

Key Takeaways:

Textron Aviation unveiled the Cessna Citation Ascend at EBACE 2023, the fifth-generation Citation 560XL, aimed at extending the success of the best-selling business jet series.
The Ascend features a refreshed exterior with larger windows and new, more efficient Pratt & Whitney Canada PW545D engines with extended service intervals and FADEC for better performance and reduced noise.
Interior upgrades include a new flat floor, enhanced sound insulation for quieter operation, a speakerless surround-sound system, improved WiFi, and numerous charging ports and amenities for passengers.
The flight deck incorporates the latest Garmin G5000 integrated avionics suite with autothrottles and advanced 3D exocentric view airport diagrams to reduce pilot workload, while maintaining the previous model's 1,900-2,100 nm range.

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Could this be a mini Citation Latitude? That was my first impression when I saw the Cessna Citation Ascend mock-up at the European Business Aviation Convention and Expo in Geneva. Textron Aviation (NYSE:TXT) pulled back the curtain on the new model Monday morning at EBACE 2023.

The $16.725-million Ascend will be the fifth-generation Citation 560XL when it arrives in 2025, and its refreshed appearance heralds dozens of improvements aimed at sustaining demand for the best-selling business jet in the last quarter century. Almost 1,100 Excel, XLS, XLS+ and XLS Gen 2 Citations have been delivered since 1998. The Ascend has plenty of qualities aimed at extending this sales performance.