Cessna Expands Presence at EBACE as International Market Response Continues to Grow

Wichita, Kan.– Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, will stage its complete line of current production business jets at the eighth annual European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) from May 20-22 at the Geneva Palexpo, adjacent to Geneva International Airport in Switzerland.
The company’s new, larger exhibit in Hall 7, Booth 7518, features more meeting space and finer amenities. An enlarged static display area includes all of Cessna’s current production jets: Citation Mustang, Citation CJ1+, Citation CJ2+, Citation CJ3, Citation Encore+, Citation XLS, Citation Sovereign and Citation X. Also on exhibit will be the Cessna 400, 208B Grand Caravan and 206 Turbo Stationair. Additionally, Cessna will show an interior mockup of the new Citation Columbus, the long-range, large-cabin business jet launched earlier this year.

“Business jet orders outside the United States accounted for more than half of our total orders in 2007, and that trend has continued through the first quarter of this year,” said Roger Whyte, senior vice president, Sales & Marketing for Cessna. “We are always eager to get in front of our international customers; our broad product range lends itself to individuals and companies with a variety of transportation needs. We’re seeing especially strong demand in Eastern Europe, Russia and Germany, and we expect a very busy EBACE.”

Cessna reported 235 total orders for Citations in the first three months of 2008. The company took a record 773 business jet orders in 2007.

The company plans to deliver 121 new business jets to Europe in 2008, adding to a European fleet of approximately 930 Citations. Worldwide Citation deliveries reached 387 in 2007, up from 307 in 2006 and an increase of 50 percent over 2005. Cessna plans to deliver 470 business jets by the end of 2008.