WHEELS UP PARTNERS LLC· ICAO24 a63bc0· last seen Feb 2026

N500UP is a Cessna Excel/XLS, a twin-engine jet operated by WHEELS UP PARTNERS LLC. SkyMeter has tracked 350 flights totalling 475 hours of airtime via ADS-B across 64 callsigns. The most frequent segment is KMQY to KMQY. Service window in our records spans 168 days. Of those flights, 28 (8.0%) carry at least one detected incident: a go-around, unstable approach, stall warning, or runway excursion. The Cessna Excel/XLS has a 56 ft wingspan, a maximum takeoff weight of 20,200 lb.

About the Cessna Excel/XLS

The Cessna Citation Excel, introduced in 1998 as the Model 560XL, carved out a lucrative niche as the first midsize business jet to combine stand-up cabin comfort with light-jet operating economics. Cessna stretched the fuselage of the Citation V by nearly two feet, widened it to 68 inches, and paired the roomier cabin with Pratt & Whitney Canada PW545 turbofans, delivering transcontinental range (roughly 1,900 nautical miles) while burning less fuel than competing midsize jets. The Excel became the best-selling midsize business jet of its era, with over 700 delivered across three variants: the original Excel, the XLS (2004, with upgraded avionics and higher cruise speed), and the XLS+ (2008, with further performance refinements and a Garmin G5000 flight deck).

Its success stemmed from hitting the sweet spot between cabin volume and runway performance: able to operate from shorter fields while seating up to nine passengers in a 5.7-foot-tall cabin. The type remains a workhorse in fractional ownership and charter fleets, prized for dispatch reliability and modest direct operating costs. SkyMeter has tracked flights across airframes and operators, with the largest observed operator.

FLIGHTS
350
all time
FLOWN HOURS
475
tracked time
📍
AIRPORTS VISITED
114
unique
📡
CALLSIGNS
64
164 routes
📅
SERVICE PERIOD
09/09/2025 → 02/24/2026
first → last
INCIDENT RATE
8.0%
28 flagged

Top routes

By flight count

10
5
4
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1

Aircraft specifications

Cessna Excel/XLS

Engines
Twin Jet
Vref (approach)
116 kt
Vmo
305 kt
MTOW
20,200 lb
Wingspan
56 ft
Length
52 ft
Wake category
Medium

Recent flights

Newest 50 operations of N500UP

50
02/18/2026
1h 22m
△ Low approach-stability score
02/13/2026
1h 48m
△ Low approach-stability score
02/11/2026
16m
△ Low approach-stability score
02/11/2026
1h 56m
△ Low approach-stability score
02/05/2026
20m
△ Low approach-stability score
© SkyMeter · All flight data subject to ODbL attribution