During the 2017 European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE), Textron Aviation announced that Czech Republic-based airline Travel Service will be the first European customer for the Cessna Citation Longitude.

Travel Service will add the Longitude to its fleet of four Cessna Citation Sovereign aircraft used for business jet charter services.

“We’ve seen fantastic interest in the Longitude across Europe, a market that welcomes the best-in-class operating costs, amenities, acquisition costs and dependability that our Citation product line offers,” said Rob Scholl, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Textron. “Travel Service passengers will enjoy the Longitude’s clean-sheet design for its class-leading cabin comfort and integration of the latest technology and revolutionary performance of the airplane.”

The Longitude is making its European debut this week at EBACE. The first flight test article flew in October 2016 and to date, four flying test articles have completed more than 230 flights, accumulating more than 450 hours toward achieving Federal Aviation Administration certification, targeted for the end of this year. The company expects to deliver the first European-based Longitude to Travel Service in 2018.

“Travel Service is looking forward to being the first European operator of a Citation Longitude and thrilled to use the airplane to meet increased customer demand for our business jet charter operations,” said Roman Vik, general director of Travel Service. “The Longitude’s 6,482 kilometer range will allow us to meet the increasing requests for long-distance flights and to give our customers the flexibility, privacy and efficiency they want while flying in a second-to-none cabin atmosphere.”