Nextant Aerospace will build three air ambulances and seven VIP executive jets over the next three years, with the possibility of more aircraft after that. The custom-designed, made-to-order jets cost about $4.4 million each.
View full sizeNextant Aerospace takes a Beechjet 400A/XP airframe and equips it with state-of-the-art technology, a more powerful engine and a custom-designed interior to make a one-of-a-kind executive jet that costs about $4.4 million. RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Ohio - Nextant Aerospace, the aircraft manufacturer that converts Beechjet 400A/XP planes into multi-million-dollar corporate jets, announced late Monday that it will be building at least 10 planes for Asia Pacific Jets of Singapore.
This is the five-year-old company's first order to deliver its Nextant 400XT jets to Asia. Most of its orders are for clients in North America.
Nextant will build three air ambulances and seven VIP executive jets over the next three years, with the possibility of more aircraft after that, said Jay Heublein, Nextant's vice president of sales and marketing.
The custom-designed, made-to-order jets - to be built at the company's new 125,000-square-foot facilities at Cuyahoga County Airport in Richmond Heights - cost about $4.4 million each.
Nextant just finished its 16th aircraft and has orders to build 83 more over the next five years.
Air ambulances, equipped with a self-contained ambulance bed and advanced cardiac life support systems, are used to transport patients to from remote regions to specialty hospitals.
Executive aircraft can be outfitted with every imaginable amenity and configured to accommodate up to eight people, plus two pilots.
"We are proud that Asia Pacific Jets has selected the Nextant 400XT, and to see the aircraft begin service on the Asian continent," said Nextant Aerospace Chief Executive Kenneth Ricci said in a statement announcing the contract.
He said that feedback from the 15 aircraft now flying around the globe has been "outstanding," and that the company is looking forward to expanding its into other markets worldwide.
Nextant Aerospace takes a Beechjet 400A/XP airframe and equips it with the latest technology, including a Williams FJ44-3AP turbofan engine, high-tech instrumentation including a Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 integrated avionics suite, advanced electronics, including high-speed wireless Internet, and a completely rebuilt interior.
The resulting Nextant 400XT has a range of 2,005 nautical miles - about 50 percent better than the Beechjet - and a cruising speed of 460 nautical miles per hour.
Unlike the Beechjet 400XP, it costs about 30 percent less to operate and can fly farther using less fuel.
The first two jets for the new order will be sent to Asia to coincide with the new Singaporean base that Air Pacific Jets and AirMed Asia are launching later this year.
Asia Pacific Jets, which just announced a partnership with AirMed Asia of Hong Kong, will also become Nextant 400XT's sales agent in Asia.
AirMed Asia will operate one of the few company-approved maintenance facilities in Asia.
Jeffrey Tolbert, AirMed International's chief executive, said in a statement that the Nextant 400XT offers "everything we like about the Beechjet, and everything one would expect from a brand-new light jet, but at a fraction of the cost" to buy and operate the plane.
He also said its range "will enable nonstop flights from our Singapore base as far west as Mumbai, India, and as far north as Shanghai, China."
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