Türkiye's Airports Authority adds Longitude for flight tests
The General Directorate of State Airports Authority of Türkiye (Devlet Hava Meydanları İşletmesi Genel Müdürlüğü – DHMİ) has taken delivery of a Citation Longitude configured for flight inspections, ch-aviation research reveals.
The 1.8-year-old jet, TC-FCD (msn 700-0091), was initially delivered to DHMI Hava Taksi (Ankara Esenboga) in July 2023. On April 22, 2024, it ferried from Ankara Esenboga to Braunschweig/Wolfsburg and onwards to Mönchengladbach, where it was reregistered in Germany as D-BDHM. Over the course of a year, it underwent extensive modifications by Aerodata AG, a German firm specialising in the integration of flight inspection systems and airborne surveillance solutions.
Between March 5 and 19, 2025, the aircraft performed a series of test flights around Braunschweig/Wolfsburg, Bremen Hans Koschnick, Hamburg, and Mönchengladbach before returning to Ankara Esenboga on March 23. It resumed operations as TC-FCD on April 12 with a test flight, followed by several domestic flights the next day.
Aerodata also installed flight inspection systems on two Citation Latitudes delivered to DHMİ in the first half of 2024. The Longitude’s induction marks the final project under the current agreement between the German company and the Turkish authority.
In addition to the two Citation Latitudes and the Citation Longitude, DHMİ operates two Citation XLS jets and multiple helicopters. The state-owned authority, overseen by Türkiye’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, manages the country’s airports and regulates national airspace.
