Cessna Showing Strong at Asian Aerospace

Cessna is here in strength at Singapore with a fresh round of Asian victories under its belt.

The company recently delivered its first Citation X in the region, to the Air Traffic Management Bureau of China's CAAC, to fill a requirement for a fast, high altitude aircraft smaller in size than a Global Express or GV. It joins a fleet of eight or 10 Citations already in China, including two Model 650s with the ATMB.

Other successes include:

• A growing number of Cessna Caravans sold to Chinese airlines as commuter aircraft.
• Sale of some single-engined piston aircraft in China for flight training and-eventually-private use.
• Strong sales from Cessna Pacific in Australia, the first distributorship in the region owned by Cessna after it bought the company 18 months ago. Sales in Australia include a number of singles, Caravans, and a mix of Citation models for delivery over the next year. There are now 27 Citations flying in Asia-Pacific.

"We've had pretty good success in whole region, starting with India and going through the Pacific," Roger Whyte, SVP for worldwide sales, told Show News. "But the last year or so has been particularly good in China, with the Citation X, a bunch of orders for Caravans, and some singles."

Whyte believes the Caravan is particularly suited to airline use, especially as China allows single-engined passenger service. While everyone else is talking regional jets, Cessna is busy selling people-haulers that are especially suited to unimproved airfields and short journeys.

"We're proud of the fact the Chinese airlines have said the Caravan is the ideal aircraft for what they want to do on their short haul routes," he said. "Chinese customers are telling us this is just the beginning-these fleets could end up becoming enormous."
While Cessna continues to explore manufacture of its aircraft in the region, there is no formula under discussion that appears attractive, Whyte said.

Cessna's static display here features the Citation Encore, the Grand Caravan, and piston-engined 182 Skylane -marking the first exhibition of the Citation Encore at Asian Aerospace.

The Encore, successor to the Citation Ultra, retains all of the best features of then Ultra while incorporating added upgrades that enhance performance and passenger comfort. More than 30 Encores have been placed into service since first delivery in September 2000.

Whyte pointed out that contrary to popular belief, a growing number of businessmen in Asia are finding a need for shorter range jets to get around their own region. "Not everyone needs to go 4,000 miles all the time," he said. Many places, China in particular, have virtually no infrastructure in many places, making it difficult to travel even a couple of hundred miles except by air.

And in Australia, the gravel kit is proving popular on the Citation so that it can operate out of unimproved strips, he said.
Customer service for Citations is through Jet Aviation in Singapore, Cessna Pacific in Australia, and centers in the Philippines and Japan.

By John Morris