About the King Air 1900
Beechcraft used the Model 200 "Super King Air" to develop the 1900, in order to provide a pressurized commuterliner to compete with the Swearingen Metro and the British Aerospace Jetstream.
First flight of the 1900 occurred on September 3, 1982. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification awarded on November 22, 1983. It entered service in February 1984, with the first ExecLiner corporate version delivered in 1985. It quickly became a major success, with 695 Beechcraft aircraft being built. Raytheon ended production of the Beechcraft 1900 in October 2002, when marketing trends began favoring larger 50- to 90-seat regional jets.