Cessna Expects Citation Latitude to be a Success in the Middle East

Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, expects its new ‘game-changing’ Citation Latitude mid-size business jet to become a favorite with Middle East customers.

With space for a crew of two plus up to eight passengers, the Citation Latitude features Garmin G5000 avionics and an 84-inch fuselage for a 6-foot high, flat floor passenger cabin.

Speaking today at the Dubai Airshow, Mark Paolucci, Cessna’s senior vice president for sales, said: “The Citation Latitude is a game-changer for the mid-size segment in the Middle East and North Africa, offering the payload, speed and range the market requires with an unmatched cabin experience at this price point.” The aircraft is priced at $14.9 million in 2011 USD.

Paolucci said the spacious Citation Latitude cabin will particularly appeal to Middle East customers. From just behind the cockpit through the rear lavatory, a flat floor provides stand-up access throughout the 16-plus foot cabin. The main passenger cabin — Cessna’s widest in history — is 77 inches wide (1.95 meters) with a height of 72 inches (1.83 meters).Positioned between the Citation XLS+ and Citation Sovereign in Cessna’s product line, the Citation Latitude offers a full fuel payload of 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms), a maximum cruise speed of 442 knots true airspeed (819 kilometers per hour) and a range of 2,000 nautical miles (3,704 kilometers).

Paolucci continued: “The Middle East market will welcome the excellent capability of the Citation Latitude. The Citation Latitude can, for example, fly Dubai-Cairo nonstop against the wind, whilst continuing to offer the strong ‘hot and high’ capabilities one associates with mid-size Citation jets like the Sovereign.”

Preliminary specifications project the aircraft will operate at airports with runways as short as 3,900 feet (1,189 meters), will have a maximum altitude of 45,000 feet (13,716 meters) and will climb direct to 43,000 feet (13,106 meters) in 23 minutes. First flight of the Citation Latitude prototype is expected to be mid-year 2014, with entry into service expected in 2015.

The standard Citation Latitude cabin seating arrangement accommodates passengers in a single-club with a forward, dual side-facing couch. Six pedestal seats track forward and aft 7 inches (.18 m) and laterally 4 inches (.10 m) on the seat base with 180 degree swiveling capability and infinite recline positions. Cabin-length indirect LED lighting is provided overhead in the passenger service units with variable adjustment for direct reading lights and more.

Expanding on the virtues of the Citation Latitude cabin, Paolucci said: “The requirements for business travel have evolved to more than comfort and convenience; the use of innovative technology is key to providing a more efficient and productive aircraft cabin, which is critical to meeting expectations of a fully functioning work environment. Through our new ClairityTM cabin technology system, we have an intuitive user interface to offer customers a ‘smart’ airplane for the ultimate connectivity experience.”

Developed by Cessna in partnership with Dallas-based Heads Up Technologies, Clairity is an intelligent cabin technology solution that ties into the aircraft avionics systems and can integrate cabin electrical systems and data and communication sharing through a fiber optic backbone controlled through either an intuitive touch-screen user interface at each seat or the customer’s personal electronic device.

The Citation Latitude’s cockpit is anchored by the new, fully integrated Garmin G5000 system that centers on three 14-inch LCD primary and multifunction displays and four touch-screen control panels. It includes an integrated Flight Director/Autopilot and Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS). Among the standard features of the new system are a pilot-vehicle touch-screen interface, TCAS II with Change 7.1, Synthetic Vision Technology, electronic charts, Garmin’s SafeTaxi, a dual flight management system with WAAS LPV and RNP, solid-state weather radar with turbulence detection and vertical scan capability, integrated terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS), ADS-B Out and Link 2000+ data link. Options include satellite weather and an ICAO Type 1A flight data recorder.

A video highlighting the Citation Latitudes’s features can be viewed on Cessna’s YouTube channel. Visit our gallery of Citation Latitude images.