Five controllers staff the tower which is located at the south end of Cessna's flight hangar and is operational seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

"This is another milestone in the expansion of the Independence facility," said Rod Holter, Cessna vice president and general manager, Independence. "With the increase in traffic following the successful launch of Mustang production here, installing a tower was the right thing to do for the convenience and safety of our customers and our employees who fly."

Three commemorative flights will be conducted today to celebrate the opening of the control tower. A Cessna Skyhawk 172R the first aircraft produced at the Independence plant will perform the first tower controlled takeoff. The first landing will be executed by a Citation Mustang. Finally, the first transient arrival will be made by a CJ2 carrying Holter, Will Dirks, vice president, Cessna Flight Operations and John Fowler, Cessna senior facilities specialist along with Independence Mayor Rick Mott and City Manager Paul Sasse.

It is anticipated that the Independence airport will experience in excess of 50,000 operations annually with the Tower providing positive traffic control and separation, significantly enhancing overall airport operational safety.

Based on unit sales, Cessna Aircraft Company is the world's largest manufacturer of general aviation airplanes. In 2006, Cessna delivered 1,239 aircraft, including 307 Citation business jets, and reported revenues of about $4.2 billion. Cessna has a current backlog of $11.9 billion. Since the company was originally established in 1927, some 190,000 Cessna airplanes have been delivered to nearly every country in the world. The global fleet of more than 5,000 Citations is the largest fleet of business jets in the world. More information about Cessna Aircraft Company is available at http://www.cessna.com.

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