Cessna Citation XLS+

Where it came from

Cessna announced the Citation Excel at the NBAA convention in October 1994 and assembled it from parts it already owned: the wide Citation X fuselage cross-section, shortened, married to a straight supercritical wing and the tail of the Citation V. The aim was a mid-size cabin on light-jet running costs, and the customers it was chasing were flying twin turboprops. The prototype flew on 29 February 1996, certification came in April 1998, and 308 Excels were built.

The XLS replaced it from 2004 with more powerful PW545B engines and ran to 330 airframes. The XLS+ followed: FAA certification on 30 May 2008, FADEC-controlled PW545C engines and a redesigned, longer nose — which is why its overall length of 16.00 m does not match the earlier aircraft, a detail worth knowing when you compare broker listings. Production ran until 2022, when the XLS Gen2 took over the line. The Citation Ascend, announced in May 2023 and in service from December 2025, sits on the same fuselage again.

The family passed 1,000 deliveries in March 2021, which makes it one of the most-produced business jets ever built. On the charter market that shows up as choice: on most European dates more than one XLS+ is available for the same trip.

Who charters an XLS+, and when

Eight-seat XLS+ trips are usually one of three things: a board or a deal team moving together, a family with real luggage, or a group facing two to four hours in the cabin who want to arrive able to work. The two neighbouring types make the choice fairly clear. The Phenom 300 is a little quicker and carries a full cabin further — around 3,350 km against the XLS+'s 2,850 — but its cabin is 1.55 m wide and 1.50 m tall, and you feel that from the first minute. The PC-24 has a bigger hold, a proper cargo door and certification for grass and gravel strips. If none of that is in play, the XLS+ wins on room.

What 1.73 m actually means

1.73 m is 5 ft 8 in, measured down the dropped centre aisle. If you are that height or under, you walk the cabin upright. At 1.85 m you will carry a slight stoop between your seat and the lavatory — noticeable, but nothing like the head-down shuffle of a light jet with a 1.45 m ceiling. The cabin is 1.68 m across, the widest in the class, so eight people are not sitting shoulder to shoulder.

The seating section on its own measures 4.67 m; the 5.64 m figure adds the lavatory and closet behind it. That lavatory is a full one — at the rear, behind a solid door, externally serviced, and on many aircraft fitted with a belted seat.

Range, runway and bags: the honest limits

The 3,400 km headline is an NBAA figure with four passengers aboard. Fill all eight seats and the practical sector drops to roughly 2,850 km. That 550 km haircut is the single most common misunderstanding about this aircraft, so plan a full cabin around four hours and 2,800 km rather than the brochure number.

Balanced field length is about 1,192 m at maximum weight. Cannes–Mandelieu and Sion are straightforward; Samedan is operable but performance-limited on a hot day, which costs either fuel or a seat. The type appears on London City's approved list, but the individual aircraft must carry the steep-approach modification and the operator must hold LCY approval — we check that per tail rather than promise it up front. The hold is 2.27 m³, loaded externally and sealed in flight; only the 0.28 m³ cabin closet is reachable once airborne.

The corridors it actually flies

London to Nice is the XLS+'s home run: about 1h 40m nonstop with all eight seats taken and the bags aboard. London to Geneva runs about 1h 25m, Paris to Nice about 1h 20m, Geneva to Ibiza about 1h 40m. The far edge of its comfortable range is London to Barcelona at roughly 2h 10m and London to Ibiza at roughly 2h 30m — both fine with a full cabin. Past that the arithmetic changes. London to Larnaca is 3,260 km: inside the four-passenger figure, outside a full one, so it becomes a fuel stop or a larger aircraft. Block times here are typical; wind and slot timing move them ten or fifteen minutes either way.

What moves the price

Charter starts from around €3,600 per flight hour, and the hourly rate is only part of the invoice. The largest variable is positioning: an aircraft already sitting at Luton on your date costs far less than one flown in empty from Milan. Crew duty is next — a long day, a late return or an overnight can force a second crew or a night stop, both of which land on the quote. Then season. Cannes in May, the Grand Prix weekend, August on the Riviera and the winter Alpine peaks all tighten slots and ramp parking, and handling and landing fees at Nice, Ibiza and Geneva swing by thousands of euros across the year. We price the specific dates, not an average.