Part 135 North Central Aviation of Blaine, Minnesota has taken delivery of a Citation Excel Eagle courtesy of CitationPartners and Yingling Aviation.

North Central Aviation operations director Greg Krantz says: “The exceptional quality of the Eagle, combined with its airframe engine, engine and APU support programmes, have frankly exceeded our expectations. The process from day one was just like acquiring a totally new aircraft. When you couple all this with the professionalism of the team from CitationPartners, Yingling Aviation and JetAviva, you have a truly winning combination.”

Russ Meyer, co-founder of CitationPartners and chairman emeritus, Cessna Aircraft Company, adds: “This is light years beyond your typical, garden variety refurbishment; it is a true nose-to-tail transformation of the aircraft.”

In January of this year, using an all-new process designed and developed by CitationPartners, a fleet of Citation Excels began its transformation to Excel Eagles. With extensive inspections by the original manufacturer, numerous new parts and systems including Garmin G5000 avionics, a new interior and a complete strip and paint, the marketplace responded quickly and enthusiastically. As evidence of this, all six Eagles scheduled for delivery in 2021 are under contract. In the coming weeks, phase two of the Citation Excel Eagle programme will be announced with deliveries planned for 2022.

CitationPartners, the company founded by Russ Meyer, long-time chairman of Cessna, Gary Hay, who succeeded Russ as CEO, and Russ Meyer III, programme manager for the Citation CJ3 and Citation Mustang, has announced a programme to fully transform a fleet of pre-owned Citation Excels into like-new business jets. By disrupting the mid-size, pre-owned market, the Citation Excel Eagle will offer an affordable, predictable solution with an attractive return on investment for corporate, charter and individual operators. CitationPartners has teamed up with JetAviva as its sales representative for the Excel Eagle.