I often get requests for charters that just don’t seem to fit any airplanes in the area. The aircraft are either too expensive to carry the number of people, don’t have enough baggage room, or the airport is too small.

The Cessna Citation Sovereign, however, is an airplane that can meet the needs of most of your dream trips. Cessna has been a leader in the design and manufacture of general aviation and business airplanes for over eight decades. The Citation Sovereign, which was first introduced in 2004, represents the evolution of the company since Clyde Cessna introduced his first airplane in 1927. In my opinion, the result is their finest charter aircraft built to date.

What sets it apart?

The Citation Sovereign combines a roomy first class cabin for the passengers, excellent fly-ability for pilots, and outstanding maintenance product support for a truly best-in-class aircraft for business and personal travel.

The Sovereign is considered a Super Mid-Size aircraft. The cabin is essentially the same as the Citation X, which is famous for being the fastest business aircraft. The difference between the two is that Cessna redesigned the wing on the Sovereign in a way that reduced its maximum airspeed in exchange for increasing its short field performance. The result is trans-continental capability in and out of airports that are less than 5,000 feet in length.

The luxurious cabin combined with its performance versatility make the Sovereign a favorite of the larger national charter companies because it can cover missions for any aircraft in their fleet.  A Schubach captain, who formerly flew the Sovereign for NetJets, says that “many passengers, after getting their first experience in the Sovereign as a backup for a different type airplane, did transfer to the Sovereign when their contract was up for renewal. Citation X owners switched to the Sovereign because they got a better cost per flight hour.”

The Interior

The cabin is configured in a double-club set up with 8 comfortable captain’s seats. It has by far the best baggage space of any aircraft in its class with 35 cubic feet in the cabin and an additional cavernous 100 cubic feet of heated cargo space in the tail.

Inside the cabin, the Sovereign is loaded with amenities as well as a large enclosed lavatory. Kim Herrell, the Charter Manager at Schubach Aviation, describes the Sovereign as “a long range aircraft at mid-size pricing. For this reason and its spacious cargo area, it is ideal for golf or ski trips. The cabin is spacious and comfortably fits eight passengers with 68 inches of stand-up room to move about.”

Where to find the Sovereign on charter?

Until recently, if you wanted to charter a Sovereign out of San Diego, you had to go with one of the more expensive national companies such as Citation Shares or NetJets.  Now, Schubach Aviation in Carlsbad has introduced one to the area available for local charters, allowing you to fly non-stop anywhere in the country from Carlsbad in a comfortable cabin without having to pay for reposition legs.

Because of its great short field performance, the Sovereign will be able to make long range flights out of Carlsbad a higher percentage of time over the Citation X with virtually the same cabin and at a lower cost. At 4,900 ft, Palomar Airport in Carlsbad is considered a shorter field, particularly for larger aircraft that need to fill up on a lot of fuel in order to make a long flight.

I encourage you to try this great Cessna product now; a local asset which will accommodate a large party to virtually any airport in the country. My perfect trip? Two foursomes to Bandon Dunes with all of our golf clubs. What’s your perfect trip? The sky’s the limit with the Sovereign.

Have we missed any of your questions? Would you like to learn more about this? If so, please let us know in the comments section of this post or contact Schubach Aviation by phone 760.929.0307 or by email charter@schubachaviation.com