Cessna will construct a Citation Service Center at the Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa, Ariz., and close the Long Beach, Calif. service center. The new operation is scheduled to open in a “phased transition” by the first quarter of 2009. The company said the 100,000-sq-ft Mesa facility will be more than twice as large as its Long Beach facility. Cessna will also have a 124,800-sq-ft aircraft ramp, more than 10 times the size of its current Long Beach ramp. “Customer preference and our business need to expand made it necessary for us to consider a move,” said Mark Paolucci, Cessna senior v-p for customer service. “Mesa’s government and business development leadership made our decision to come to Williams Gateway fairly easy.” Williams Gateway is a former Air Force base that closed in 1993 and was redeveloped as a reliever airport for Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.