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SmartSky, a provider of inflight air-to-ground (ATG) connectivity for business aviation, announced the issuance of an FAA Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for SmartSky LITE on the King Air 350i. The certificate covers installation of the inflight Wi-Fi system for King Air models B200, B200C, B200GT, 250, 250C, 250EP, 260, 260C, 300, 350, 350C, 350CER, 350i, 350iER, 360, 360C, and 360CER representing over 2,000 in-service aircraft.
The first article installation was completed by Davinci Jets Services. As part of previously announced plans to equip the majority of its managed fleet with SmartSky connectivity due to SmartSky's ability to deliver the connected experience inflight customers have been demanding for years -- Davinci has already completed first-of-type installations of SmartSky systems on a Citation CJ4, Citation Latitude, and Pilatus PC-12.
"Receiving this STC marks significant progress in the SmartSky STC lineup and in delivering our high-performance solution to a series of aircraft that has long been underserved by inflight connectivity. The pilots and passengers of this aircraft are absolutely delighted with the ability to connect to whatever is most important without limitations," said SmartSky CEO David Helfgott about this first King Air which was previously equipped with Gogo Avance L3 before being replaced with the SmartSky LITE system. When asked about the user experience compared to the L3 system Captain Greg Mashburn stated: "So far it's been way better obviously. Gogo was pretty spotty and half the time our passengers or the crew couldn't even connect let alone send a text. Now we can send photos FaceTime and stream videos really easily. Everyone's excited."
