In 2004, Cessna took the successful Excel and asked: What if we made it actually good?

Cessna took the Citation Excel platform and developed it into the XLS, which entered service in the early 2000s with updated avionics and the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW545B engines. The result was a midsize jet with a stand-up cabin, solid runway performance and a cockpit that was a meaningful step forward for its generation.

And the market noticed. The 560XL family has passed 1,000 deliveries, making it one of the most successful midsize business-jet families ever built.
That tells you something.

• The 560XL family passed 1,000 deliveries.

Textron Aviation marked the 1,000th delivery of the 560XL series in 2021. The family includes the Excel, XLS and XLS+.

For a buyer, a large installed fleet matters. More aircraft in service generally means a deeper operating and support ecosystem.

• The XLS was built around a very useful cabin concept.

The original Excel combined a straight wing derived from the Citation V with a stand-up cabin concept from the Citation VII family. That gave Cessna a cabin that worked well for passengers without turning the aircraft into a much larger jet.

If you spend several hours inside a business jet, you notice this quickly.

• The XLS family became a long-running Cessna platform.

The XLS was followed by the XLS+, and the 560XL family continues today in the XLS Gen2. Textron Aviation still describes the 560XL line as the best-selling midsize business-jet family of the 21st century.

That is not a small detail when you are buying a pre-owned aircraft.

Cessna Citation XLS: approximately 1,858 nm range, typically 7 to 9 passengers depending on configuration.
Bombardier Learjet 60: approximately 2,400 nm maximum range, up to 8 passengers.
Hawker 800XP: approximately 2,400 nm range, up to 9 passengers.
The Learjet gives you more speed and range in some missions. The Hawker has a respected cabin and strong range. The XLS gives you a very balanced package and, importantly, a large installed fleet with a long operating history.

Which one is right?

That depends on what you actually fly.

The Citation XLS is the aircraft that proved refinement beats revolution. It took the Excel's awkward brilliance and polished it into corporate aviation's favorite tool.

The Citation XLS has something I value in an aircraft: it makes sense after the sales brochure is closed.
It has enough cabin for serious business travel, enough range for a large part of the European and regional market, good airport flexibility and a huge operating history behind the 560XL family.
For many owners, that combination is more useful than chasing another 20 knots on the spec sheet.

Looking for a Citation XLS for Sale?
Give us the mission first:

• How many passengers?
• Which routes?
• How much range do you need?
• What year or configuration do you prefer?
• What are your requirements for engines, maintenance and avionics?
• Where will the aircraft be registered and operated?

We will search the open market and our off-market network and come back with aircraft that fit the requirement.