Textron Aviation (Wichita Cessna Aircraft Field) has delivered the first Citation Ascend to a retail customer on December 30, roughly two months after receiving United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) type certification. The mid‑size jet's registration and operator remain undisclosed.

The Citation Ascend is the newest variant of the Citation 560XL series, which has recorded over 1,000 deliveries since 2000 across the Citation Excel, Citation XLS, Citation XLS+, and Citation XLS Gen2 models.