The shortest route is not always the most economical.
Fuel consumption and flight time are only part of a flight’s operating cost. Airport fees and en-route navigation charges can also influence the choice of route or airport.
Simpfly has partnered with RDC Aviation to integrate airport and en-route charges calculations into its Flight Brief Suite, a pre-flight application used by pilots and dispatchers.
Reported on 30 October 2026, the integration allows users to calculate expected charges while preparing a flight brief. It is already live, with operators testing the capability during operational trials.
Bringing Charges into the Briefing Process
Airport charges vary according to factors including aircraft weight, airport facilities and the services required. En-route navigation charges depend on the applicable charging arrangements and flight characteristics.
Through the RDC integration, pilots and dispatchers can calculate expected charges within Flight Brief Suite rather than consulting a separate tool.
Operational use requires a direct contract with RDC Aviation.
Although Simpfly serves airlines and other aircraft operators, the announcement emphasises business aviation and charter operations.
A Late Stage for a Cost Decision
For business aviation and charter operators, a cheaper airport may still involve additional ground transport, positioning or handling expenses. Seeing the charges does not settle that trade-off.
Timing may matter more than the availability of the data itself.
Simpfly places the calculation within flight preparation, but on many charter flights, the airport and route may already have been largely decided during quotation or scheduling.
The information may therefore be most useful when an operator still has flexibility to change its plan.
RDC’s data is not exclusive to Simpfly, but other platforms use it at a different point. Leon integrated RDC airport charges into its scheduling software in 2019 and used the data in its Sales module. FL3XX shows RDC costs in the pricing section of its sales workflow, and Awery uses RDC data to support faster quoting.
Those tools put charges in front of the person pricing a trip. Flight Brief Suite puts them in front of the pilot or dispatcher preparing it. That may reveal a cost the original plan missed, but the announcement does not say the software recommends a cheaper route or airport, and by that stage the decision may be harder to change.
