Federal Aviation Administration type certification is on track for mid-2013 with first aircraft deliveries planned for the second half of 2013.

“Our first flight, today, was a great success. We have a great team working on this project and I know they will take this dominant aircraft up a notch,” said Kelly Reich, business leader for the Cessna Citation X and Ten.

The Ten is a mid-size aircraft with updated design and performance, enabling it to get to altitude faster and travel farther than the Citation X (Model 750). First announced at the 2010 NBAA convention, the Citation Ten is designed for greater fuel efficiency and increased comfort for up to nine passengers and two pilots.

Two Rolls-Royce AE 3007C2 engines will take a 36,600 pound (16,601 kilogram) MTOW Citation Ten off the ground in 5,150 feet (1,569 meters) and give the aircraft a maximum cruise speed of 527 knots an hour (977 kilometers) and a certified ceiling of 51,000 feet (15,545 meters). The Ten has a maximum range of 3,242 nautical miles (6,008 kilometers), putting city pairings such as New York-London, Boston-San Francisco, London-Dubai and Miami-Seattle within convenient one-hop flights.

The Ten is 15 inches longer than the Citation X, providing extra passenger legroom in the forward club seating area. A new Ten mock-up was debuted at the 2011 NBAA convention with a fresh new interior color scheme, though customers are able to choose the interior stylings that best fit their needs and personality.

Also featuring Clairity^TM, Cessna’s proprietary cabin technology solution, the Ten delivers ultimate touch-screen control to the passenger, maximizing the digital entertainment experience from web to movies to moving maps. One convenient panel at each seat provides connections for personal electronic devices.

The Garmin G5000 integrated flight deck is one of the most intuitive pilot-aircraft interfaces ever seen in a business avionics suite. The high-resolution multi-function displays have split-screen capability, allowing continuous monitoring of engine, flight control, hydraulic and electrical systems. Garmin’s SVT synthetic vision technology on the primary flight displays gives the crew a virtual reality view of runways, terrain, traffic and obstacles. Electronic charts with aircraft position overlay provide dynamic situational awareness during approach.

A video highlighting the Citation Ten’s features can be viewed on Cessna’s YouTube channel. Visit our gallery of Citation Ten images.

Click on the photo links below to download high-res versions.

Citation Ten first flight take-off
Citation Ten first flight in air 1
Citation Ten first flight in air 2

London, November 28, 2011: A new survey from Collinson Latitude, a global provider of incremental revenue and membership products, reveals many travel industry businesses anticipate a change in ancillary revenue strategies next year, with more emphasis on up-selling and cross-selling.

Nearly half of respondents (49%) believe cross-selling and up-selling through the booking process will be the fastest-growing area of ancillary revenues for travel businesses in 2012.  Furthermore, 30% of respondents predict that non-travel related product sales will play a pivotal role in the future of ancillary revenues.

Collinson Latitude director Janet Titterton says: “We surveyed loyalty and ancillary revenue managers, particularly across the airline industry, and the results encouragingly prove the industry is seeking to maximise the benefits of customer data insight. With travel companies holding so much knowledge about their customers, cross-selling and up-selling strategies can be tailored to match benefits and promotions to customers’ wider profiles. This targeting can increase the attractiveness, perceived value and ultimate success of ancillary revenue programmes.”

At the same time, however, the survey indicates conventional travel-related offers will remain important in ancillary revenue programmes. Among respondents, 19% predict greater cross-selling and up-selling of travel-related products through the booking process, while 21% predict an increase in on-board ancillary revenues for airlines.

Titterton continues: “Traditional travel-related ancillary revenues will clearly remain important. For example, 22% of survey respondents currently implement ancillary revenues by unbundling previously packaged products and services. However, this process needs to be handled carefully: although ancillary revenues can bring costs down for customers – as unwanted services are no longer paid for – the perception is often very different. As services previously viewed as ‘free’ become billed separately, the travel industry needs to demonstrate to customers that such services really do provide choice and value for money.”

The results of the survey will be revealed at ‘Mega Event 2011’ (November 29-30) in Miami. Collinson Latitude will be sponsoring and exhibiting at the event alongside sister company ICLP.

Travel industry loyalty reward programmes have seen a 31% decline in active participation since 2007*. On average, only a third of loyalty programme members regularly redeem their loyalty currency, leaving many customers cold to their brand’s programme.

Collinson Latitude’s latest trend report, ‘Making your loyalty currency irresistibly valuable everyday’, responds to these findings, claiming airlines and hotels need to differentiate their programmes from competitors through providing engaging loyalty programmes which offer relevant, everyday rewards.

Janet Titterton, director at Collinson Latitude, says: “Hotels and airlines need to encourage more frequent interactions by offering rewards and benefits that are obtainable for every customer, not just the more frequent flyers or business travellers with high levels of loyalty currency. The elite customers are always going to be important, of course, but focusing on them to the exclusion of others reduces the optimal gain that could be achieved from a wider base.

“As the more forward-thinking airlines and hotel chains have realised, by including cash plus points purchases (where the customer makes up the difference in cash) as part of their redemption proposition, they can broaden their offering to appeal to more members. With an ever-rising number of retail partners signed up to web shopping portals, members are increasingly able to use their points and airmiles for everyday items that hold value to them, from the more traditional kettle and toaster options through to experiences and digital downloads. If the redemption offering is broad and appealing members will, naturally, be more inclined to redeem their loyalty currency.”

The report also cites emerging technologies as a key area in which customer engagement can be improved across the travel loyalty industry. With new technologies ranging from ‘automated communications’, such as confirmation emails after every purchase, to ‘pending transaction’ communications, containing personal and targeted brand messaging, new technologies can provide a myriad of opportunities.

Titterton continues: “There is significant scope for both hotels and airlines to be much more innovative with evolving technologies. The best loyalty platforms need to fit with clients’ existing platforms whilst also being able to respond to – and grow with – further technological advances.

“The widespread adoption of smartphones, tablets and mobile purchasing – also known as m-commerce – dramatically opens up opportunities for tailored communication from travel loyalty companies, especially when members are ‘on the move’. Although such activity is still in its infancy, the use of personal data to drive targeted up-sell and cross-sell when people are travelling is increasing.

“The Amazon model, for example, has demonstrated to great effect that consumers respond exceptionally well to tailored product recommendations. ‘Other people who bought this product also viewed these items…’ is a very simple and powerful technique. With the assistance of emerging technologies, airlines and hotels should employ similar tactics.”

In the long-term, the adoption of new technologies can increase redemption and boost revenue for travel loyalty companies. This fact is especially important when companies consider the wider implications of the IFRIC 13 standards.

Titterton concludes: “The need to encourage redemption of currency has garnered even greater significance following the introduction of the IFRIC 13 standards. Now that programme owners can no longer ‘write off’ unspent currency and must account for all currency in the market on their balance sheets, it is in their best interest to offer broad reward options to increase the utility of the loyalty currency.”

Copies of the report can be requested from: www.latitudeignite.com.

* Colloquy.

“Customer-centric e-tailers like Amazon have, for example, introduced many customer relationship techniques that demonstrate the power of suggestion. The proven success of recommending purchases and activities, based on previous interactions, shows how easily the customer experience can be personalised to encourage loyalty. Equally, brands need to embrace the complex, interconnected benefits of the evolving social media world. Customers already love and include online social communities in their everyday lives. Brands that understand how they can play a more significant role within their customers’ social communities can create greater emotional connections. Brands must find innovative ways to add even greater value in these channels to increase their customers’ loyalty.

“From airline frequent flyer programmes through to B2B reseller programmes, many loyalty strategies have not progressed from outdated legacy business models. If brands fail to innovate consistently, and fail to find ways to differentiate their customer relationships from competitor offerings, they risk losing vital customers.”

Stuart Evans, general manager of ICLP UK, adds: “The frustration is that many companies, from financial services organisations, supermarkets and utilities providers through to airlines and hotels, already hold a vast amount of data and information on their customers. But they are not making the creative leap from insight to innovation. Fuel and air alone do not make a fire; to create unique customer value, you also need a spark.

“Listening to customers is a starting point, of course, but not always enough. Henry Ford once commented that had he asked his customers what they wanted, they would have just said a faster horse. Loyalty and marketing professionals in all industries need to show Ford’s foresight in understanding what the customer wants and then exceed those expectations with an innovative new proposition. In fact, the e-tailer ‘recommendation’ technique perfectly illustrates the point, highlighting to customers products that they might want but just not be aware of yet.”

Buckingham concludes: “We’re practising what we preach at ICLP, which includes revamping our website – relaunched today (www.iclployalty.com) – to include much more of the detailed and informative content for which the market and our customers have been asking. As well as the improved look and feel, we have also listened to the loyalty and marketing community and used this insight to evolve our thinking and ensure the website delivers a global hub of loyalty intelligence.”

A high-resolution photo of Mignon Buckingham may be downloaded from Flickr here.