Portsmouth, N.H.-based fractional provider PlaneSense placed an order last month for up to five Nextant 400XTis worth a potential $25.75 million at list prices. The firm order for two of the remanufactured Beechjets (with options for three more) marks PlaneSense’s first purchase of non-Pilatus aircraft, and its first order for not-new aircraft. PlaneSense currently operates PC-12 turboprop singles.

The deal will propel the company into the jet market more quickly, with the first 400XTi slated to come on line in June and the second in the fourth quarter. Deliveries of the six Pilatus PC-24 light jets that PlaneSense ordered at EBACE last year will not begin until mid-2017, after Pilatus receives type certification. (The PC-24 has yet to log its first flight, more than seven months after the rollout ceremony.)

PlaneSense president and CEO George Antoniadis told AIN that his company will not initially sell shares in the 400XTis; instead, they will be available as an upgrade for PC-12 share owners, several of whom have been asking for faster or longer-range aircraft. The jets will “enhance” PlaneSense’s PC-12 product and provide a “foundation for growth.”

Asked about how the 400XTi meshes with the eventual PC-24 fractional-share program, Antoniadis said he will “let the market decide.” Pricing and more details for the 400XTi program will be announced in the coming months, he added.

The company plans to use contract pilots for the first six to eight months of 400XTi operations to sit beside upgraded PlaneSense pilots as they gain experience on the new type. Thereafter, PlaneSense pilots dual-rated in the PC-12 and 400XTi will fly the jets.

The 400XTi sale “represents the culmination of months of work between our two companies,” said Nextant president and CEO Sean McGeough. “The 400XTi will be a perfect complement to [PlaneSense’s] current fleet of PC-12s.”

“Historically our program has inducted only new aircraft into the fleet,” said Antoniadis. “We have been impressed with the Nextant 400XTi remanufacturing process and the resulting enhancements.” Because of these “extensive” improvements and upgrades, he considers the twinjet to be like new, not pre-owned, and thus decided to integrate the aircraft into the fleet.