Citation Excel / XLS: how it differs from its rivals

More than a thousand aircraft delivered — a record for the midsize class. In August 2000, when the hundredth Excel came off the line in Wichita, the factory was turning out an aircraft every three days. Here is what produced that result.

A standing-height cabin for midsize money

The main distinction of the Excel is how it is put together. A shortened Citation X fuselage was taken — the one you can stand upright in. The wing from the Citation V Ultra and the tail surfaces were added.

The result was the roomiest cabin in midsize at a moderate price. Normally the ability to stand in the cabin means moving up a class and paying fundamentally different money. The Excel delivered it in the midsize class — hence the thousand aircraft.

The second distinction: thirty years of continuous production

The programme has run since 1996 and continues: Excel, XLS, XLS+, XLS Gen2, Ascend. For a buyer that means several practical things.

Support is established worldwide. Specialists on the type are everywhere. On a rare type the choice narrows to a single person in the country.

Parts are available. There is no waiting weeks for a component.

The pre-owned market is alive. There is something to compare against when buying and somebody to sell to when exiting.

Price statistics are reliable. On rare types they simply do not exist and valuation is built on guesswork.

Liquidity is part of the price, simply deferred. On a rare type the saving comes at purchase and the loss at sale, and the loss is the larger of the two.

In my own experience demand in the midsize class rests on Cessna and Hawker — these are the aircraft people buy for short legs, exactly the mission the Excel was built for. Timing matters too: a deal on the pre-owned market takes around two months, while a new aircraft means a wait of about a year and a half. Purchases that are not justified I talk clients out of, as a matter of principle.

Where the Excel gives ground

Range of 1 858 nautical miles. A good figure for the class, though intercontinental legs belong to Heavy. And the figure is a book one: load nine people with baggage and it comes down. Plan a route near the limit of book range with a technical stop.

No berth. A boundary of midsize.

Fleet age. Base Excels came off the line up to 2004. The type is reliable and well supported, but the aircraft need checking more attentively than newer ones.

Cycles accumulate fast. The Excel flies a great deal on charter on short legs. Take-offs and landings on such an aircraft are incomparably more numerous for the same hours, and life remaining has to be counted in cycles.

How to choose the generation

The move to a glass flight deck came with the XLS. A base Excel cannot be retrofitted to it.

On the pre-owned market listings often say simply "Citation XL" — establish the suffix before any conversation about price.

Who it suits

The mission the aircraft was created for: 6–9 people, legs of up to three and a half hours, the need to work and move about the cabin in flight. Corporate flying, regional routes, charter operation.

Full specifications and photos are on the model page.

Conclusion

The Excel wins on its combination: a standing-height cabin in the midsize class, thirty years of production, a thousand aircraft in service and established support worldwide.

The main question at purchase is the condition of the particular aircraft: the generation, life remaining in cycles, which fleet it came out of, and what the logbooks say.

Alexander Filimonov — business aviation: sourcing, acquisition and entry into service of aircraft.