Stuttgarter Flugdienst (SFD) has taken delivery of a Citation Ultra, which will replace its SII and CJ2. The CJ2 recently left the fleet as its owner decided to sell the aircraft.

As reported in September’s EBAN, the company maintains a policy of fleet renewal, replacing its older aircraft with new Citations. The Ultra will be used for ad hoc charter and corporate shuttle flights, and SFD aims to build on its existing list of clients who had previously flown with the SII.

The company anticipates that the eight-passenger aircraft will fly about 450 to 500 hours per year. “The SII was used for almost weekly shuttles by corporate clients so, having replaced it with the Ultra, our clients are very happy about it,” said md Andreas Mundsinger.

“It’s more comfortable, especially with eight passengers, because the Ultra is a little bit longer than the SII and is suitable for flights of up to about two hours.”

The aircraft will be made available for flights throughout Europe and SFD expects that the average leg length for the Citation Ultra will be approximately one hour and thirty minutes.

The company also operates a CJ1, Bravo, Citation V and VII, allowing for a comfortable transition with the new aircraft. “We operate a Citation V, so the Ultra, which is the newer model, is not a problem for our crew – or for maintenance – in terms of integrating it into our fleet,” said Mundsinger.

“We also operate a Bravo, the cockpit of which is almost the same as the Ultra, and the CJ1 and CJ2 are also very similar, so it’s quite easy for all of our pilots to fly the aircraft. This was one of the reasons we chose to buy the Ultra as we did not need to renew any licences for our pilots or do any new type ratings.”

SFD believes that the charter market in Germany is improving and is capable of supporting a new aircraft. “September was a really good month,” said Mundsinger. “The enquiries, requests and bookings increased, as did our flight hours, compared with June and July. We hope that this trend will continue.”

As for the future, Mundsinger anticipates that the process of fleet renewal will continue, keeping the overall age of the fleet to a minimum. “One of our aircraft owners is thinking about replacing the Citation V, which will probably be the next aircraft to be replaced within the next few months. We don’t know if the new aircraft will be another Ultra or, perhaps, a stand-up cabin aircraft.”