Why visit ACE ’25?
Bluebird Aviation, based in Bochum, Germany, is operating a new Citation XLS jet for its owners. Captain Oliver Terhorst, md Bluebird Aviation says: "At the moment we are only flying it for the owners because we are waiting for the commercial approval of the aircraft. We are hoping to get the AOC within the next couple of months. There are problems because there is no flight data recorder in the aircraft, but we are working on that and it will come." The owners bought the aircraft and then asked Bluebird Aviation to operate it. They are using it for business flights to western Europe, in particular, Spain, Austria and the UK. It is kept at Dussledorf Airport. Terhorst thinks the Citation is a good aircraft to fly. The seats are comfortable and he likes the instruments and displays. Its rate of climb and fuel consumption are good too. But, says Terhorst: "The toilet should be serviceable from the outside but it's not. You have to fill it with additional liquid from the inside. It's a small disadvantage." Terhorst doesn't know what the owner's future plans for the aircraft are once the AOC is granted but he thinks that it will fly an increasing number of hours.