1,239 Aircraft Delivered, Including 865 Piston Planes

Cessna Aircraft Company says it maintained its leadership position as the world's largest general aviation aircraft manufacturer in 2006, with 1,239 piston and turbine aircraft delivered.

"Thanks to a growing demand for business aircraft around the globe, our Citation jet deliveries grew to 307 aircraft last year, up more than 50 aircraft over 2005," said Cessna Chairman, President and CEO Jack J. Pelton. "We also did very well with our single-engine line, with 865 piston aircraft and 67 turboprops delivered. With these deliveries, and with our development work for new single-engine products, our leadership and commitment in this market segment are unrivaled."

Cessna tells ANN total company revenues for 2006 were $4.2 billion, up from $3.5 billion a year ago. Cessna expects to deliver 375 jets in 2007, including 40 newly-certified Citation Mustangs. The company considers aircraft "delivered" when shipped to Cessna dealers.

"The business jet market outside the US continues to grow," Pelton said. "In 2006, business jet orders outside the US accounted for 48 percent of our total orders."

In 2006, Cessna announced two new business jet programs and gained full US Federal Aviation Administration type- and production- certificates for its Citation Mustang. Cessna's new jet programs, already enjoying a healthy backlog, are the Citation XLS+, a block change upgrade on its best-selling business jet, and the CJ4, a brand new jet in the popular CJ family.

As Aero-News reported earlier this month, in 2006 Cessna's total backlog rose to $8.5 billion.

FMI: www.cessna.com