Thanks to GSA funding, several STCs have been developed allowing LPV functionality being upgraded in numerous aircraft models. Many Part 21 organizations are therefore engaging new customers with reduced costs for LPV upgrades.
One such case is the development and installation of an STC produced by AKKA for Hop! a few months ago. This STC enabled LPV functionality for the ATRs 42 and 72 legacy (100 to 500 series) by installing the Esterline CMC Electronics CMA-5024 GPS/SBAS Landing System Sensor Unit (GLSSU) and CMA-5025 Control Panel.
Having this STC available for purchase has been great news for many operators wishing to take advantage of LPV. Take the case of Lease Fly, a Portuguese company maintaining several ATRs and a Cessna Citation, offering charter flights and wet-leasing services. According to Pierre Yves Lazies, Sales Director from AKKA Technologies, “having this STC available is raising strong interest from many ATR’s regional operators”. For Lease Fly and similar operators LPV approaches are a great news, given their need to land at many small and medium sized airports without ILS, so safer operations, increased accessibility, less disruptions and even reduced costs are possible thanks to LPV procedures.