If you're an Australian charter operator, you've probably noticed something about every piece of aviation software on the market: none of them are built for you.
FL3XX is built for US Part 135 operators. Leon is built for EASA operators in Europe. FlightStratix is built in the UK. AeroQuote is built in the UK. Every pricing page is in euros or US dollars. Every default is FAA or EASA. Every support article references FAR Part 135 or EASA Part-CAT.
When you run a CASR Part 119 operation out of Archerfield and you're quoting a YBAF→YSSY charter in a King Air, none of that helps you.
What CASA-aware actually means
CharterQuote AI ships with Australian airport fee defaults for 15 major airports:
- Sydney (YSSY): landing $380, handling $450
- Melbourne (YMML): landing $350, handling $420
- Brisbane (YBBN): landing $340, handling $400
- Perth (YPPH): landing $320, handling $380
- Adelaide (YPAD): landing $280, handling $350
- Gold Coast (YBCG): landing $260, handling $320
- Archerfield (YBAF): landing $85, handling $110
- Bankstown (YBNK): landing $110, handling $140
- And 7 more Australian airports
You can override any of these. You can add airports. You can set per-aircraft overrides. But you start with Australian numbers, not US numbers you have to convert.
Crew day rates in AUD
The default crew day rate is $450 AUD. The default fuel surcharge is 4%. The default landing fee for airports not in the database is $350 AUD. These are starting points — you set your own rates in your aircraft rate card. But the starting points are Australian, not European or American.
Regulatory language
CharterQuote AI uses CASA terminology by default: AOC, CASR Part 119, Part 135, Part 138. If you're an Australian operator, you don't have to translate from FAA Part 135 or EASA Part-CAT in your head while you're building a quote. The system speaks your language.
FAA and EASA configurations are available for operators who work across jurisdictions. But the default is CASA, because the default user is an Australian charter operator.
Why no one else does this
The Australian charter market is small compared to the US and Europe. There are maybe 200–300 charter operators in Australia with 1–10 aircraft. For FL3XX or Leon, that's not a market worth building defaults for. They'll sell you their US/EU product and let you figure out the Australian specifics yourself.
For CharterQuote AI, the Australian market is the starting point. The founder is a CASA-licensed commercial helicopter pilot based in Brisbane. The CASA-aware defaults aren't a "feature" — they're the baseline. Every other platform treats Australia as an afterthought. We treat it as home base.
What's next for CASA-aware defaults
The initial airport fee database covers 15 major Australian airports. Phase 2 adds:
- Every Australian airport with scheduled charter service (50+ airports)
- CASA fee schedule updates quarterly
- AVGAS and Jet A1 pricing by location
- CASR Part 135 compliance language in quote terms
- GST handling for domestic vs international quotes
If you're an Australian charter operator quoting in Excel today, CharterQuote AI is the only quoting tool that starts with your numbers, your airports, your currency, and your regulator. Everything else is a translation exercise.
Stop quoting in Excel.
Join the CharterQuote AI waitlist. Beta is free for 3 months. Launch pricing is $99/month — flat, not per aircraft.
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