The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), which overseas regulation on drones, has released Can I Fly There?, a new smartphone app to inform operators of crucial no-fly zones.

CASA partnered with Drone Compliance, a specialist software company which services the UAV industry, to develop the app which aims to make flying drones safer.

It shows no-fly zones around major airports, flight paths of smaller airports, and helicopter landing areas.

It also has restricted and military airspace where drones cannot be flown.

The drone no-fly zones are shaded in red on the map. Yellow shading is used to show fly with caution zones around areas where aircraft are known to operate at low altitudes.

The no-fly and caution zones in Sydney.

It’s the first official app released to improve safety of drone operations around the country, and help operators to abide by the regulations.

Valuable information about airports is displayed by the app, including satellite photos of runway layouts and whether airports have air traffic control services.

Information is also shown for uncontrolled aerodromes and aircraft landing areas, with written advice about what to do when flying a drone in those locations.

The app displays information about drone safety regulations, making it an essential tool for everyone flying a drone – including professional photographers.

Can I Fly There is part of CASA’s strategy to guide operators toward flying the new technology within the rules and safely.

The market for drones in Australia, and the rest of the world, is booming and aviation authorities have had to adapt regulation to accommodate the growth in interest.

CASA cut the red tape in September last year for commercial operators flying a drone weighing 2KG and under.

Many viewed this as a step in the right direction. Professional photographers and other drone users were previously required to obtain a license for any commercial activity, or fly under the radar.

This barred many from using the technology, or at least admitting to it.

While ‘cutting the red tape’ wasn’t moving toward deregulation, a fact highlighted numerously by CASA, safety concerns caused CASA to receive criticism.

The app has been part of the aviation authority’s commitment to safety.

CASA has sourced data from Airservices Australia for the app. Users are encouraged to report any potential inaccuracies in the information to CASA.

It is available on Andoid, iOS, and web-based HTML5.

Click here to view the app.