Platoon Aviation (PTN, Hamburg) has placed an order with Textron Aviation to add the Citation Longitude as its second type for market expansion. Managing director Deniz Weißenborn told Swiss aviation news website AeroTELEGRAPH the contract was for up to twelve units. The number of firm units and options remains unclear.
The first four aircraft are scheduled for delivery starting in the first quarter of 2027, and will complement our existing PC-24 super light jet operations, creating a highly versatile platform for the European business aviation market," the operator said in a statement.
Weißenborn clarified to AeroTELEGRAPH that the first unit was due in March 2027.
He said that aircraft range was the key factor behind the selection of the Citation Longitude platform. “With the Longitude's performance, we have the opportunity to connect the Middle East with London nonstop. We see this as a market expansion,” he explained.
Platoon Aviation operates an exclusively Pilatus Aircraft fleet comprising eleven Pilatus PC-24s, all registered in Germany except one placed on the Austrian register. The company will soon take delivery of another new unit, currently at Pilatus Aircraft's Buochs production facilities, carrying test registration HB-VUE (msn 622) and scheduled for registration as D-CAMO.
“We haven't ordered additional Pilatus jets,” Weißenborn noted. Despite introducing a Textron Aviation aircraft type, Weißenborn said the company has not abandoned a standardised fleet strategy. “We always consider a fleet unit as an aircraft class. In the light jet segment, we have a standardised fleet with the Pilatus PC-24, and that will remain the case.”
Platoon Aviation will become Europe's largest operator of Citation Longitude aircraft. At present, three aircraft are registered in Europe, including two in Czechia, operated by UGjet, a sister carrier of Smartwings (Czechia) specialising in VIP charters, and one specially configured unit in Türkiye, operated by the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMI Hava Taksi) for flight inspection missions.
