Very Light Jet (VLJ) manufacturer Eclipse Aviation announced at a customer event that it will begin to take orders for a new single engine jet. The Eclipse 400, as it will be known, is based on the Eclipse Concept Jet the company showed off at EAA AirVenture 2007 trade show.

The Eclipse 400 features a unique fuselage mounted engine nacelle between V-shaped tail wings, allowing for excellent handling. The four seat Eclipse 400 will be one of the greenest jets to ever take to the skies; its Pratt and Whitney Canada PW615 engine burns just a pound of fuel per nautical mile when the plane cruises at 330 knots. That’s good news as the price of jet fuel climbs ever higher. The Eclipse 400 also boasts an impressive ceiling of 41,000 feet. The sticker price for the plane is $1.35 million.

Along with the announcement of the new aircraft came news that Eclipse will be raising the price of its larger Eclipse 500 VLJ. The two engine Eclipse 500 will now sell for $2.15 million, up from $1.6 million. Eclipse has long into a series of a manufacturing cost overruns and delays for its Eclipse 500, which had originally been priced at $1 million. Even at the higher price, the 500 remains cheaper than its closest competitor, Cessna’s Citation Mustang, priced at $3 million.