Citation Sovereign

The Sovereign's takeoff distance is 3,580 ft. We hold verified takeoff figures for only three aircraft in this class, so that number is offered as a fact about the aeroplane and not as a podium finish — but 3,580 ft is a short runway requirement on any reading, and it is the specification that puts airfields on an itinerary a longer-legged aircraft would have to overfly. Range is 3,200 nm, mid-class and comfortably more than the sectors those airfields usually serve demand. Cessna has ended production of the type, so what reaches the market now is a settled, well-understood airframe rather than a current one.

The cabin is the other half of the case: 303 in long — more than either the Challenger 300 or the Citation X offers — at 66 in wide and 68.1 in high, the lowest ceiling in the class and a width shared with the Citation X. This is a long, narrow cabin rather than a broad one, and it suits a working layout better than a lounging one. Eight or nine seats, 100 cu ft of baggage across ten bags. A charterer choosing the Sovereign is usually choosing the airfield first and the cabin second: it is the aircraft that reaches the strip nearest the meeting and then flies 3,200 nm from it, and the narrow cross-section is the price of that combination.

The airfield comes first