Cessna Aircraft celebrated Christmas two days early with first deliveries today of both the new Citation M2 and the Citation Sovereign+ models. Deliveries began immediately following certifications by the Federal Aviation Administration, with the first M2 going to best-selling author, pilot and former Citation Mustang owner Stuart Woods.

The $4.395 million M2 is a derivative of Cessna’s CitationJet and retains the same C535 type designation as the aircraft from which it is derived. Featured are such major upgrades as winglets, the new Intrinzic cockpit powered by Garmin G3000 touchscreen avionics, a restyled cabin and cockpit, and new Williams International FJ44-1AP-21 engines.

The cabin is 58 inches wide and 11 feet long. And a five-inch drop-aisle gives the cabin 57 inches of headroom.

Rated for single-pilot operation, it can carry as many as six passengers, has a max cruise speed of 400 knots and a range of 1,300 nm. The light twinjet can “easily handle” nonstop legs such as Houston-Washington, D.C. and Frankfurt, Germany-Moscow, Russia, according to Cessna.

Brad Thress, Cessna senior v-p of business jets, described the M2 as “once more redefining the light jet segment . . . a versatile aircraft that fits many markets and missions.” He added, “We’re seeing owners like Stuart moving up from his Citation Mustang, as well as customers upgrading from a turboprop, or moving laterally to a newer, same-size business jet.”

The first flight of the M2 was in March 2012, following a certification process that involved more than 150,000 engineering hours and two aircraft flying nearly 1,000 hours and 36,000 nm.

With the $17.895 million Sovereign+, Cessna has placed real emphasis on the plus. “We started with an aircraft popular for having one of the most comfortable cabins in its class, not to mention superb performance and reliability,” said Thress. “The Citation Sovereign+ makes a great airplane even better,”

The Sovereign+ features an increased full-fuel payload, the addition of winglets, Garmin G5000 avionics, autothrottles. The winglets plus new, 5,852-pound-thrust Pratt & Whitney Canada PW306D engines give the airplane a range of 3,000 nm, top speed of 458 knots and direct climb to 45,000 feet.

The cockpit upgrade is designed around the Cessna Intrinzic flight deck powered by the Garmin G5000 system, and the integrated, workload-reducing autothrottle system streamlines pilot tasks.

Cabin improvements include the integrated Cessna Clarity cabin management system with user-friendly touchscreen controllers and new larger and more comfortable seats. The cabin also features an improved cooling system.

Cessna is also promoting its Sovereign Shield program to cover all scheduled maintenance and parts costs for the aircraft’s first five years or 1,500 flight hours, “practically eliminating maintenance-related direct operating costs and allowing owners to operate the Sovereign+ for far less than other business jets in the midsize category," according to the company.

According to Cessna, operators covered by Sovereign Shield can save more than $3,500 on a 2,000 nm trip, compared with direct operating costs of midsize competitors. Service and support for the Sovereign+ is available at 15 factory-owned centers and 39 authorized service centers worldwide.

In service since 2004, the Citation Sovereign fleet now totals more than 349 aircraft worldwide and fleet has amassed more than 802,000 flight hours. Plans for the Sovereign+ were announced at NBAA in October 2012.