Phenom 300 - becoming the mainstay option within the Super Light Jet category.

With the rise of the Phenom 300 – a firm favourite with operators with a reliable, well-priced, and cleverly designed interior we ask if the Phenom 300 is the new king of the superlight market?

If you had asked me a decade ago about the most dominant charter aircraft in Europe, I would have confidently named the Citation CJ2+ or Citation XLS. However, with Embraer's aggressive entry into the market with the Phenom 100 and the increasingly popular Phenom 300, the landscape has significantly shifted. It's a shift that demands a closer look at the comparisons between these models.

Lets look at the Cessna Product the CJ2 and Citation XLS

Citation CJ2 Interior

The Citation CJ2+ was the middle marker within the Citation Jet ‘CJ’ family. It has 6 to 7 seats (non-standing) and an enclosed lavatory. It has a good commercial range of 2 to 3 hours, which covers most European trips, and was priced better at the time than the Hawker 400XP, Premier 1, and Learjet 40.

Importantly, the Cessna Citation CJ2 was also exempt from VAT fees, unlike its shorter 4-seat variant, the Citation CJ1 and was only marginally smaller than the more expensive Citation CJ3 or, new and with varied success, long-range CJ4.

And this perhaps is the problem – 4 Models (CJ1,CJ2,CJ3,CJ4) of which 3 of these models directly compete with each other and the CJ4 skirting around the performance of the Citation XLS which has a significantly bigger cabin and could be purchased (resale markets) below the cost and wait time of a new CJ4. The only perhaps real advantage is the CJ4 can be operated by a single pilot privately. (Great for Owner/Pilot operations).

The Cessna Citation XLS

Interior of the Cessna Citation CJ3

The Citation XLS – An aircraft that revolutionised the Super Light & Midsized market, was the usual prime suspect whenever you needed to charter up to 8 passengers within Europe. With a taller ‘near standing’ cabin of 1.7 Meters - 30 centimetres taller than the Citation Jet Series, the aircraft allowed passengers to move freely around the cabin and validated a higher charter price per hour yet still well below the hourly rates of the Hawker 800 series its main rival at the time.

So to recap, the CJ2 was the dominant lighter jet option (despite other variants), and the Citation XLS was the go-to option for those wanting extra headroom.

Now enter the Phenoms

In 2009, Embraer entered the market with the 4-seat Phenom 100 and 6–seat Phenom 300—both clean-sheet designs unlike the present Citation Models, with advancements in cabin design, luggage space, performance, and flight deck technologies.

Embraer kept things simple – The Phenom 100 was for 4 passengers (shorter range operations) the Phenom 300 was the longer model for 6 passengers and better range – both could be operated by a single crew member (attracting the Citation Jet owner), and both the Phenom 100 and 300 had a cabin height of 1.5 meters – 5 cm more than the Citation Jet Series but 23cm Less than the Citation XLS series. Yet despite the loss of cabin height, many clients noted that the ‘ascend’ up into the Phenom was a smart psychological feature of entering into a larger cabin than it actually was (if you know, you know).

In commercial terms, Initially, with the Phenoms being new models charter rates for these models were high (as expected with any new aircraft model) but as these models have depreciated and the reputation and fleet size grew, the hourly rate has fallen cleverly to become the intermediary option between the Cessna Citation XLS and Citation CJ2 – perhaps filling the shoes of the Learjet 45/75 albeit at a lower hourly operational cost.

So do we think the Phenom 300 is now the dominant super light?

I would say the Phenom 300 is certainly on the incline and continues to have a following – looking at the cockpit, you can't miss that it oozes technology and the aircraft feels modern.

Yet the major point to consider is that the Phenom cabin is undoubtedly smaller than the Citation XLS and people love cabin space so the Citation XLS will still retain a following even if may be a little more expensive – the question on whether the likely replacement of the XLS (the Citation Ascend) will keep this appeal with a higher $20 Million price tag / flat floor but potentially a shorter cabin height is yet to be seen.

I suppose the people at Embraer could well be thinking, “Never interrupt your enemy while he's making a mistake; it's bad manners.”….