The highly successful CitationJet was developed as a replacement for the Citation and Citation I. Cessna announced the CitationJet at the annual NBAA convention in 1989. The CitationJet is an updated version of the Citation 500. The fuselage is the same but it has a new T-tail and a new supercritical laminar flow wing. The Citation is equipped with Williams FJ44 engines with paddle thrust reversers.
The first flight of the CitationJet occurred on April 29, 1991.