Embraer Phenom 300 vs Cessna Citation M2

The Embraer Phenom 300 and Cessna Citation M2 are the best-selling light jets of the last decade, but they sit a class apart, and the comparison is really about how much aircraft a buyer needs. The Citation M2 is the current version of the original CitationJet, a 12.98 m jet with two Williams FJ44 engines, a 1,550-nautical-mile range, a cruise around 400 knots and seats for six, certified for a single pilot and priced around five million dollars. The Phenom 300, now the Phenom 300E, is a 15.9 m jet with Pratt & Whitney Canada PW535E1 engines, a 2,010-nautical-mile range, a cruise of about 464 knots or Mach 0.80, seats for up to ten, also single-pilot certified, at roughly twice the price.

The Phenom 300 has been the most delivered light jet in the world almost every year since 2013, favoured by charter and fractional operators such as NetJets and Flexjet and by owners trading up from turboprops. The M2 is the entry point to jet ownership: lower purchase and operating costs, simpler systems and runways under 1,000 m, at the cost of range, speed and cabin size. Embraer's closer match to the M2 is the smaller Phenom 100, and Cessna's to the Phenom 300 is the Citation CJ4.

Passenger experience

The Phenom 300's cabin is noticeably larger, about 1.55 m wide and 1.5 m high, with six to eight seats in club pairs, an enclosed rear lavatory and larger windows, and it cruises higher, at 45,000 ft, above most weather. The M2's cabin is 1.47 m wide and 1.45 m high with four club seats and one or two more at the rear; the lavatory is a belted seat behind a curtain. Both are quiet, with engines mounted well behind the cabin, and both are pressurised with no cabin attendant. The Phenom 300 is the aircraft for a four-hour trip with six people; the M2 is for two hours with four. For the best seat on either, the forward-facing club chair on the left by the door.

Which to choose

Buyers who need coast-to-coast range, a full cabin and a lavatory with a door choose the Phenom 300; those who want the lowest cost to own and fly a jet choose the M2. They are the two best-selling aircraft in their classes because each does exactly what its buyers ask.