Today, Cessna is renowned for producing some of the best private jets in the world. Among these jets is certainly the Cessna Citation Sovereign, which has proven to be the bestselling Cessna business jet released in the last 20 years!
All in all, between 2004 and 2021, Cessna produced a combined 443 Citation Sovereigns (including the standard Citation Sovereign and the Sovereign+) selling over 100 more times than the second-place, Citation X…
Pre-Cessna Citation Sovereign
In 1968, Cessna announced the production of their first business jet. This jet, the Cessna Citation I, would enter service in 1971, and would soon prove to be one of the most popular business jets ever produced.
Building on this success, the Citation I was developed into the longer Citation II, which entered service in 1978 and similarly proved to be quite successful.
Whilst both the Citation I and II were immensely successful, they lacked the range to perform transcontinental flights, which lost both jets quite a few customers.
To fix this, Cessna would introduce the Citation III in 1983. Much like its predecessors, the Citation III would prove to be quite popular, with Cessna receiving well over 300 times orders for the jet within its first few years on the market.
Once again, this prompted Cessna to release another jet. Or in this case two. In 1991, Cessna would introduce the Citation VI, before introducing the Citation VII in 1992, with both jets expected to be far more successful than the Citation III ever was!
Despite this, the introduction of superior jets like the Learjet 60 and Hawker 800 ensured that the Citation VI and VII were short-lived, with them selling only 158 times between them.
Development
By almost every metric, the Cessna VI and VII would an unmitigated failure.
Seeing this, Cessna would strive to find the reason behind why the jets failed. Here, they would realize that the failure of the jets was due to the fact that they were more expensive, whilst being inferior from technical standpoint than its competition.
Using this information, Cessna would begin designing a brand-new mid-sized jet to replace both the Citation VI and VII. Instead of developing the new jet from the Citation III family, Cessna would develop the jet from the Citation Excel it has released in 1998.
To avoid the two jets competing against one another, Cessna engineers would stretch the Excel’s fuselage by 6 feet 7 inches (2 meters), whilst completely redesigning the wing to have leading edge flaps thus giving it better runway performance.
On top of this, the wing would have a sweep of 16.3 degrees, as opposed to the Excel’s straight wing, to give the jet better fuel-efficiency. For fuel-efficiency purposes, the jet would also be given more fuel-efficient PW306C engines too.
So the jet appealed more to pilots (and thus executive charter airlines), Cessna engineers would also give the Excel’s cockpit a huge makeover, taking its half-analogue, half-glass cockpit and giving it an almost all-glass cockpit.
Cessna would reveal the Cessna Citation Sovereign at the 1998 NBAA convention, where it would receive numerous orders. The jet would first fly in February 2002, before being certified by most of the world’s major aviation regulators in 2004.
Operational History
From here, the Cessna Citation Sovereign would enter service in September 2004, where it would go on to have a rather interesting service life…
Corporate Jet
After being revealed at the 1998 NBAA convention, most of the Citation Sovereign’s initial customers were corporations, who had previously operated Cessna private jets, and were looking for a replacement.
By 2010, Cessna had fulfilled most of its initial orders from the NBAA, with the jet having become quite famous in popular media as one of the best corporate transports on the market.
As a corporate jet, the Citation Sovereign often flies a mixture of transcontinental and transatlantic routes, carrying high-ranking corporate executives like the CEO or owner, whilst flying for business purposes.
With that being said, you may also find that the jet occasionally flies short-haul routes too, mostly owing to the Citation Sovereign’s ability to carry more than ten people over short distances at a similar cost per seat to light jets like the Citation Mustang!
For some companies, the Cessna Citation Sovereign isn’t the only jet that they use.
Many of these companies operate two. Here, they often operate a light jet like the Citation Mustang on short-haul routes, whilst operating the Citation Sovereign on their medium and long-haul routes due to its extended range.
Sadly, recent years have seen public opinion sour against private/corporate jets, with many seeing them as doing more harm than good to the environment. To prevent public opinion souring against them, many companies have registered their jets anonymously.
This means that we currently don’t know of many corporations that actually use the Citation Sovereign…
Private Jet
Yet, it hasn’t just been corporate flyers that have begun operating the Citation Sovereign, so have private flyers. For the most part, this has been celebrities or the children of high net-worth individuals who want to fly in style.
This is due to almost every aspect of flying on the Citation Sovereign being far comfier than anything first class can offer. Plus, for celebrities, there’s also the added benefit of avoiding being mobbed by the paparazzi and/or overeager fans!
Due to this latter point, most of the Cessna Citation Sovereigns that are currently registered are done anonymously, often through anonymous corporations or shell company (owned by the private flyer).
With that being said, we do know that famous celebrities own a Cessna Citation Sovereign. Among these celebrities are: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, actor Harrison Ford, soccer player (footballer) Neymar and industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla.
For the most part, the jet has become so popular with celebrities due to its versatility. As a mid-size jet, the Citation Sovereign has the range to fly on transatlantic and transcontinental routes, whilst also costing less than flying first class.
However, it’s also more practical than larger jets like the Falcon 2000 and Legacy 600 due to it being able to land at airports with a shorter runway or that’s noise restricted, whilst being economic enough to operate on short-haul routes too.
Charter
Having seen the Sovereign’s success as both a private and corporate jet, almost every major executive charter airline in the world has acquired a few Citation Sovereigns to be chartered out.
Indeed, in recent years, the Citation Sovereign has proven to be one of the most popular mid-sized jets for charter companies!
For the most part, these executive charter airlines market the jet as a middle-of-the-market jet, eg. the jet that you charter if you need something a little larger than the Citation Excel family, but smaller than the Citation X!
Alternatively, these executive charter airlines market the jet as the mid-size jet you want to charter if you don’t travel light (as the Sovereign has by far the largest internal baggage compartment of any jet in its class!)
On top of this, the jet is often marketed as the kind of jet that you want to charter if you need to transport more than ten people on a short-haul journey that light jets like the Phenom 100 or Phenom 300 don’t have the capacity to.
Although it depends on a number of factors, such as the executive charter airline you fly on, route and time of year, you’d be looking at paying around $4,500 per hour to charter a Cessna Citation Sovereign (assuming you had the money to!)
Fractional Ownership
Yet, it hasn’t just been executive charter airlines that have seen the Citation Sovereign’s success as a private/corporate jet, so have fractional ownership companies, who’ve begun to acquire the jet en masse…
Here, these fractional ownership companies market the jet towards high net worth individuals who don’t want to buy an entire jet, but rather, just a fraction of one.
By acquiring a fraction of a jet, these high net worth individuals are entitled to fly a certain number of hours per year on the jet, whilst paying a lower amount per hour than they would chartering the jet.
As you can probably imagine, the cost to acquire a fraction of a jet is wholly dependent on the fraction of the jet you’re buying. After all, a larger share should (in theory) be more expensive than a smaller one.
Currently, the cost to acquire a 1/3 in a standard Cessna Citation Sovereign is around $1.85 million, whilst a similar share in a Citation Sovereign+ can easily cost as much as $5 million.
On the slightly cheaper end, however, you could acquire something like a 1/8 share in a standard Citation Sovereign for about $690,000, whilst a Cessna Citation Sovereign+ may cost as much as $1.875 million!
However, these fractional ownership companies don’t work for free. In exchange for taking care of everything, fractional ownership companies charge a monthly fee, which is often in the region of $19,000 for a Citation Sovereign.
Features
In terms of size, the Citation Sovereign was the largest mid-sized jet when it was released. Not only was it longer and taller than the competition, but it also had a much longer wingspan too.
Due to its immense size, the Cessna Citation Sovereign was actually reclassified as a super mid-sized jet a few years ago! Although here, it is slightly on the smaller end of super mid-sized jets…
Owing to the jet’s large size, its baggage hold is also extremely large, being the largest in its class, and almost three times the size of the average baggage hold in its class!
Beyond its immense size (compared to its contemporaries) the Citation Sovereign has one of the longest ranges of any jet in its class, with this being evident once you realize that this was Cessna’s intention from the beginning.
However, in exchange for its incredible range, the Citation Sovereign is slightly slower than its competitors (although the time difference is often negligible given the length of the routes the Cessna Citation Sovereign typically flies).
When Cessna was designing the Citation Sovereign, one of the main things that they wanted to do was make it so the jet could land and takeoff from more runways than any Cessna before it, to that end, Cessna engineers worked tirelessly to make that happen.
And this work paid off, with the Citation Sovereign having one of the shortest runway takeoff and landing distances of any jet in its class!
Price
Prior to ceasing production of the type in early 2021, you could acquire a brand-new Cessna Citation Sovereign for about $18 million, or a Sovereign+ for around $19.5 million, placing it on the slightly cheaper end of private jets…
With that being said, since ceasing production in 2021, the only way for you to acquire a Sovereign would be on the secondary market. Luckily for you, there are currently several Sovereign and Sovereign+ jets on the market…
On the lower end, you could acquire a standard Citation Sovereign, built in the mid 2000’s with around 5,000 hours on the airframe for as little as $5.295 million, with most generally selling for around $5.5 million a piece.
On the higher end, however, you could acquire a Citation Sovereign+ from the mid 2010’s until 2021 for between $10 and $16 million (mostly depending on when the jet was built and how many hours on the airframe it has!)
In terms of cost to operate, the Sovereign is slightly more expensive, costing roughly $3,500 per hour to operate. However, this assumes that you were to fly the jet for roughly 400 hours per year.
Assuming you wanted to charter the Citation Sovereign, you’d be looking at paying around $4,500 per hour to operate the jet (although this may be more or less depending on several factors like the route, executive charter airline you fly on and time of year).
Variants
Owing to the Citation Sovereign’s immense success, Cessna have produced several variants of the jet, all of which have proven to be quite successful…
Citation Sovereign
Seeing the sales of its Citation III/VI/VII family begin to wane, Cessna chose to a new jet to replace it. Developed from the Cessna Citation Excel, this jet would become known as the Cessna Citation Sovereign.
Having a completely redesigned wing and interior, a lengthened fuselage, brand new engines and an all-new cockpit, the Citation Sovereign was designed to be a much larger replacement for the Citation III/VI/VII family.
Produced between 2004 and 2021, the Citation Sovereign would serve as the basis for several more Cessna aircraft (including other variants of the Citation Sovereign, but also the Citation Latitude!)
Citation Sovereign+
By October 2012, the introduction of newer variants of the Citation Sovereign’s rivals caused demand for the standard Citation Sovereign to wane. In order to stay competitive, Cessna unveiled an updated Citation Sovereign at the 2012 NBAA convention.
This updated Citation Sovereign, marketed as the Cessna Citation Sovereign+, was given newer, more powerful (and more fuel-efficient) engines, blended winglets as well as an improved flight deck.
First flown in April 2013, the jet would enter service in early 2014. Although not as popular as the standard Sovereign (only selling 39 times, compared to the standard Sovereign’s 349) it would become far more famous than its predecessor!
Specifications
| Specifications | Cessna Citation Sovereign+ |
|---|---|
| Length | 63 ft 6 in (19.35 m) |
| Wingspan | 72 ft 4 in (22.04 m) |
| Height | 20 ft 4 in (6.2 m) |
| Crew | 2 |
| Passengers | 12 |
| Cruise Speed | 850 km/h (530 mph; 460 kn) |
| Range | 5,900 km (3,700 mi; 3,200 nmi) |
| Service Ceiling | 47,000 ft (14,000 m) |
| MTOW | 30,775 lb (13,959 kg) |
How Safe is The Cessna Citation Sovereign?
Looking at the safest and most dangerous aircraft currently in our skies, you’ll find that pretty much everyone focuses on commercial airliners like the A320 and 747.
Private jets like the Citation Sovereign, on the other hand, are almost always forgotten about…
For the most part, this is done deliberately. After all, there are almost ten times as many commercial jets as private ones, meaning the former are much more common than the latter.
Not to mention the sad fact of the matter is that most of the world’s population will never fly on a private jet in their lifetimes.
Yet, for those planning to fly on the Cessna Citation Sovereign, you are probably wondering how safe (or dangerous) the jet is…
Thankfully, of the 443 Citation Sovereign and Sovereign+ jets ever built, only one has been involved in an aviation-related accident of some kind, with this incident having no fatalities whatsoever. This makes the jet one of the safest in the world!
In this accident, a corporate-owned Citation Sovereign (owned by Argentine private bank Banco Macro) overshot the runway, whilst landing at the JoaquÃn V. González-Agropecuaria RÃo Juramento Airstrip in the Salta province of northern Argentina.
Despite overshooting the runway, the aircraft came to a standstill, when it collided with the airstrip’s barbed wire fence.
Whilst this caused damage to the aircraft, all Banco Macro will need to do is repaint the jet. Due to this, the jet is expected to be back up and running once the JIAAC (Argentine equivalent of the NTSB) has concluded why the aircraft overshot the runway.
What’s it Like to Fly on The Cessna Citation Sovereign?
Over the course of writing this article, I have had the good fortune to fly on the Citation Sovereign (as well as the Sovereign+) several times. And I have to say, I understand why the Cessna Citation Sovereign has been so successful!
As soon as you step into the Citation Sovereign, the first thing you notice is how much bigger it is than its competitors, being both longer and wider than the Hawker 800 and Learjet 60 it was designed to compete with.
Perhaps my favorite feature of the jet was its cabin control system. From a wireless device inside the aircraft, you can control cabin temperature, humidity and lighting, a feature that hadn’t been on any Cessna jet before it!
From a pilot’s point-of-view, the Citation Sovereign’s cockpit is far better than any Cessna jet before it. Whilst the standard Citation Sovereign doesn’t have an all-glass cockpit, it’s 95% glass, giving it a mixture of glass and analogue that I quite like…
With that all being said, when compared to newer mid-sized and super mid-sized jets like the Legacy 450 or Praetor 500, the jet is very basic, with it lacking many of the high-tech amenities (for the early 2000’s) that its competitors have.
Although, this is a common theme among Cessna private jets, even today, as the company focuses more on producing a great jet which is cheaper than its competitors, than one with all the bells and whistles, so to speak.
What do you think of the Cessna Citation Sovereign? Have you ever flown on it? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Bill Word via Flickr.