Hahn Air has taken delivery of a new Citation CJ4 to operate a scheduled airline service, conducted as a codeshare, on the 45-minute trip between Düsseldorf and Luxembourg.

"No other Citation in the world, nor indeed any other business jet to my knowledge, is operating with an airline flight number," says Trevor Esling, Cessna's vp of international sales. "Hahn Air's CJ4 service will be an IATA-registered flight so a passenger could, for example, book with an airline to fly to Luxembourg and receive two boarding cards – one card for the leg to Düsseldorf and one card for the CJ4 leg to Luxembourg. And the same principle would apply flying to Düsseldorf via Luxembourg, of course."

Daniel Rudas, Hahn Air's executive vp and coo, added: "We're an established Citation customer, so we know the CJ4 will bring us the perfect combination of speed, comfort and reliability for this pioneering passenger service."

Hahn Air now operates the CJ4 alongside its Premier 1, and also offers charter sales in conjunction with Eisele Flugdienst (E-Aviation) in Stuttgart. As reported in EBAN previously, Eisele has experience of the CJ4 since it took delivery of the first of the type for air charter operation in Europe in the summer this year.

Hahn Air captains Britta Carrera, Michael Vautz and Christoph Müller undertook simulator training on the type in Wichita, along with Daniel Rudas himself.

The CJ4 is the newest and largest member of the CJ family. The aircraft gained FAA certification in March 2010 and EASA earlier this year.

Nineteen were delivered in 2010 and 16 through the first half of this year. The aircraft is approved for single-pilot operations and shares a common pilot type rating with the other CJs. It has a range of 2,002 nautical miles and a top speed of 453 knots. At maximum weight, the CJ4 takes off from runways as short as 3,130 ft.