What an aeronautical licence is for
An aeronautical licence lets you operate a station for:
- air traffic control
- aerodrome radio information services
- private company radio at an airport or airfield
- other airport or aerodrome services
One licence covers the use of a range of equipment at one place, including:
- fixed stations
- mobile stations
- hand-helds
- stations on aircraft
An aeronautical licence is an assigned licence. All equipment must operate on the assigned frequency.
Airservices Australia manages aeronautical frequencies. They must approve an aeronautical service before we will give you a licence.
You must also be accredited by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to operate an aeronautical station.
The Radiocommunications (Interpretation) Determination 2015 defines aeronautical licences.
Licence conditions
When you have an aeronautical licence, you must follow the conditions of your licence.
These include:
- conditions of the Radiocommunications Act 1992 (the Act)
- Licence Condition (Apparatus Licence) Determination 2015
- Licence Conditions (Aeronautical Licence) Determination 2015
- other conditions that apply to you under ‘special conditions’
These conditions help you communicate safely and without interference.
We will include information you should be aware of under the heading 'advisory notes'.
Airservices Australia may have other rules you need to follow.
Call signs
Call signs are a unique series of letters and numbers. They make it easy to identify a station.
We will give you a call sign, or you can use a call sign from Airservices Australia or CASA.
You should use your call sign:
- every time you start to transmit
- before you transmit in a series
- when you test
Aeronautical call sign template
|
aaamnn |
Aeronautical call sign template (example: VKA714) |
|
aaa |
first 2 alpha characters are VJ, VK, VL, VM, VN, VZ, or AX, with the third character being any alpha |
|
m |
numeric character 2 to 9 |
|
nn |
numeric character 0 to 9 |
Aerodrome radio information stations also need to identify where they are.
For example:
- BOURKE UNICOM
- CA/GRS, BROOME RADIO
This helps pilots know where:
- the station is
- the service comes from
Fees
We charge fees for apparatus licences.
In some circumstances, you can apply for a licence fee exemption or concession.
Device rules and standards
As well as needing a licence to operate devices and equipment, you will also need to comply with our technical standards.
These include:
- some general standards – see Schedule 5 to the General Equipment Rules
- the Radiocommunications (Electromagnetic Compatibility) Standard 2017
- the Electromagnetic Energy (EME) Standard – see Schedule 4 to the General Equipment Rules.
Read more about our technical standards including our general radiocommunications standards, the EMC standard and the EME standard.
If your device or equipment does not meet the rules in our technical standards, you will need a permit to supply, use or have it. This is separate from a licence. Find out about permits and fees under the General Equipment Rules.
Apply for an aeronautical licence
To apply for an aeronautical licence you should contact an accredited person.
They can:
- assign you a frequency
- give you a frequency assignment certificate
- apply for your licence for you
Transfer an aeronautical licence
You can apply to: