Aerowest of Germany has purchased a Citation Sovereign+, which it is in the process of converting on to the D register. Co-founder and head of flight ops Wolfgang Karlstetter says that the aircraft is a logical next step which follows excellent service from his previous Sovereigns. “We already have two existing Sovereigns in the fleet, and we appreciate the performance of these planes,” he remarks. “The Sovereign+ has made an encouraging start, and the new avionics are outstanding and very intuitive.”

The aircraft is currently used for private operations under the N registration, but it will shortly convert onto Aerowest's AOC, making it the first Sovereign+ registered in Germany.

Karlstetter is impressed with aspects of the avionics on the jet: “We have Garmin G5000 avionics installed. This consists of three big screens which display a great deal of useful information.

“The aircraft also has winglets, which significantly increase the performance compared to the regular Sovereign.”

The latest arrival is not expected to drastically alter the company's operations, but will add much-needed capacity. In addition, Aerowest's maintenance subsidiary is now able to perform line and base checks on the Citation Sovereign, Citation V, Citation Ultra and Citation Encore models. It is in the process of constructing a new hangar too. Karlstetter reveals that a further Sovereign+ is likely to join the fleet by the fourth quarter of 2014.