Aircraft
Textron Aviation’s Citation Ascend Slides into Home BACE
Two test articles have accumulated 1,000 hours
Citation Ascend
Cessna Citation Ascend arriving at Henderson Executive Airport for NBAA-BACE 2025. © Mariano Rosales/AIN

Textron Aviation is debuting the Cessna Citation Ascend this week at NBAA-BACE 2025, showcasing the latest edition of the venerable Excel/XLS as the midsize jet is on the cusp of FAA certification. This debut also comes a month after Textron Aviation rolled out the first production Ascend at its facilities in Wichita.

Launched at EBACE 2023, the Ascend first flew in June last year. Since then, two test articles have amassed more than 1,000 flight test hours. Certification is anticipated this year, with NetJets set as the launch customer under a multi-year 1,500-aircraft contract for the Citation Longitude, Latitude, and Ascend. Replacing the XLS Gen2 after its anticipated approval this year, the Ascend is the next step in a product line that has numbered more than 1,000 deliveries since 2000.