Freedoms of the Air
A standard set of definitions for
international airlines
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Some are the result of
international treaties, some are merely conventionally
understood, and in total they comprise the 'Freedoms of the
Air'. |
Delta Air Lines, now merged with
Northwest Airlines, has become the world's largest airline.
Biggest isn't necessarily best, but with its Business Elite
class cabin and service, Delta definitely offers one of the very
best business class experiences of any airline, closely approaching the
first class offered by three and four class airlines.
Many people have decried US
carriers as providing inferior service, compared to foreign
carriers, on international routes. Based on the consistent
high quality experience I enjoyed on my two recent flights, that
is not the case with Delta. I
unhesitatingly recommend Delta for your next business class
international flying.
How the 'Freedoms' Evolved
Air transportation is different to most other forms of commerce,
not only because of its international components but also
because of its governmental participation and the fact that many
national airlines or 'flag carriers' are either in large part
government owned, or, even if not, are felt by the government to
reflect the prestige of their nation.
In addition, nations often feel that they can only rely on their
locally owned carriers to have a commitment to providing service
to their own country. This is unimportant if you're a small
country in Europe with excellent road and rail service to other
countries, but if you're a remote island in the Pacific, air
service is essential.
And so, for reasons variously good or bad, international air
travel has long been subjected to all manner of complicated
restrictions and bilateral treaties between nations. One of the
main treaties that sets out the fundamental building blocks of
air transportation regulation - the 'rules of the road' - is the
Chicago Convention in 1944.
These 'building blocks' are widely referred to as the "freedoms
of the air", and they are fundamental to the international route
network we have today. The first two are basic freedoms that
are, more or less, recognized by all countries, the next three
are at least widely understood, and accepted to varying degrees.
Then the last four become much less common - two are less widely
accepted, and the last two are hardly accepted at all.
Each is subject to specific conditions, such as establishing the
frequency of flights, that are determined through bilateral
agreements between any two of the countries that are parties to
the Convention.
First Freedom
The right to fly and carry traffic over the territory of
another partner to the agreement without landing. Almost all
countries are partners to the Convention but some have observed
this freedom better than others. When the Korean airliner lost
its way over Soviet air space a few year ago and was shot down,
the Soviet Union (among other offenses!) violated this First
Freedom.
Second Freedom
The right to land in those countries for technical reasons such
as refueling without boarding or deplaning passengers.
Third Freedom
The right of an airline from one country to land in a different
country and deplane passengers coming from the airline’s own
country.
Fourth Freedom
The right of an airline from one country to land in a different
country and board passengers traveling to the airline’s own
country.
Fifth Freedom
This freedom is also sometimes referred to as 'beyond rights'.
It is the right of an airline from one country to land in a
second country, to then pick up passengers and fly on to a third
country where the passengers then deplane. An example would be a
flight by American Airlines from the US to England that is going
on to France. Traffic could be picked up in England and taken to
France.
Sixth Freedom
The right to carry traffic from one state through the home
country to a third state. Example: traffic from England coming
to the US on a US airline and then going on to Canada on the
same airline.
Seventh Freedom
The right to carry traffic from one state to another state
without going through the home country. Example would be traffic
from England going to Canada on a US airline flight that does
not stop in the US on the way.
Eighth Freedom
This is one form of cabotage (or sometimes 'true cabotage) and
is rare. Airline cabotage is the carriage of air traffic that
originates and terminates within the boundaries of a given
country by an air carrier of another country, and for purposes
of the Eighth Freedom, is in the context of an airline that
started or ended the flight series in its home country, even if
the passenger only travels within the foreign country. An
example of this would be an airline like Virgin Atlantic Airways
operating flights between London, Chicago and New Orleans and
carrying passengers between only Chicago and New Orleans.
Ninth Freedom
This is similar to the Eighth Freedom, and is the right to
operate flights within a foreign country but without continuing
or prior service to or from the carrier's home country. This is
the rarest of the freedoms, although it can be seen, more or
less, operating within the EU (although these days the EU
considers itself to be one big country for such purposes).
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Originally published
12 Nov 2002, last update
30 May 2021
You may freely reproduce or distribute this article for noncommercial purposes as long as you give credit to me as original writer.
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