Page 36 - World Airnews Magazine April 2021

GENERAL
AVIATION

AN END TO THEIR RULE

extron Aviation has ended produc-

Tti on of its Cessna Citati on Sover-

eign, a midsize business jet and Beechcraft
King Air C90 GTx twin-turboprop.
Demand for both airplanes had slipped in

recent years while Textron Aviation noted

its action was based on a continuous align-

ment of product offerings with current and
future market demand.

“Both aircraft have been valued members
of legendary product line-ups for decades,”
the company said. The models will continue

to be supported by Textron Aviation’s ser-

vice centres and parts operation.

The 2019 certification of the super-mid-

size Citation Longitude, as well as the
earlier 2015 entry-into-service of the
midsize Citation Latitude, presented “the

opportunity to minimise overlap within this
customer segment” by ceasing Sovereign

production, the company added.
The Model 680 Sovereign featured a

stretched Excel fuselage and a new wing tion Mustang and X+ recording fewer GTi, and GTx - with the last refresh in 2015

and entered service in 2004. Since then, deliveries, according to figures from the adding Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics to

Textron Aviation has delivered 349 Sover- General Aviation Manufacturers Associa- its flight deck.

eigns and 94 Sovereign’s. tion (GAMA). In all, 2,178 variants of the King Air 90

It was upgraded to the plus variant in A ‘pioneer of the King Air family’ the C90 series - including A and B models - have

2012 with FAA type certification and first was a derivative of the Queen Air and in been delivered. Last year, the Wichita

delivery occurring the following year. In 1964, the 65-90 was the first King Air 90 airframer announced the King Air 260 and

the past four years, annual deliveries of series variant to be delivered. 360/360ER. GAMA figures showed C90GTx

the Sovereign had slipped to the single Between 2004 and 2009, the C90 deliveries in the past five years represent-
digits, with only the now out-of-produc- received a series of three upgrades - GT, ing a fraction of its larger siblings. Q

FUEL
TITAN AVIATION FUELS
BREAKS OUT OF ITS SHELL
Anna Mascolo said, adding that the com- and yellow scallop shell logo with a new

pany will remain focused on its growth capital T sporting a red wing.

itan Aviation Fuels, which has throughout the US. “We will continue to “All the programmes, the cards, the

Tserved as the offi cial branded reliably service the aviation industry with contract fuel, they were all branded

distributor of Shell Aviation fuels for quality aviation gasoline and jet fuel and Shell, but they were administered by

look forward to expanding our customer

general aviation (GA) in the US for the base within the US aviation market.” us,” said Titan president Robbie Stall-

ings, adding customer account numbers
past 18 years, has announced that it Shell noted the change will not affect will remain the same.

will officially rebrand its 550-member its aviation brand outside the US, and “We’ve been the ones building

Shell FBO network under its own inde- that it would continue to supply not only the relationships and managing the

pendent, full-service Titan Fuel brand. Titan but other GA distributors in the US. network, but we’ve always been doing
The announcement means the sunset Titan - formerly Eastern Aviation it using someone else’s brand. Now it

of the Shell Aviation fuel brand in the US Fuels - has been in operation as a fuel will be with our brand, so we’re really

after more than a century. distributor since 1975. According to the excited.”
“The main strategic change for us, is company, the transition for its custom- He noted that the network-wide

to move from a branded model to an ers will be seamless, involving little more rebranding process is expected to be

unbranded one," Shell Aviation president than the replacement of the iconic red completed over the next six months. Q
World Airnews | April 2021
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