The Freedoms of the air are a set of commercial aviation rights granting a country's airline(s) the privilege to enter and land in another country's airspace. Formulated as a result of disagreements over the extent of aviation liberalisation in the Convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944, the United States had called for a standardized set of separate air rights which may be negotiated between states. A Boeing 747-400 of Virgin Atlantic Airways An airline provides air transport services for passengers or freight. ... Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a particular country on top of its territory and territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere. ... The Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention, established the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations charged with coordinating and regulating international air travel. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

The convention was successful in drawing up a multilateral agreement in which the first two freedoms, known as the International Air Services Transit Agreement, or "Two Freedoms agreement" were open to all signatories. While it was agreed that the third to fifth freedoms shall be negotiated between states, the International Air Transport Agreement (or the "Five Freedoms agreement") was also opened for signatures, encompassing the first five freedoms.

Several other "freedoms" have since been added, although they are not officially recognised under international treaty. Single European Act A treaty is a binding agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely states and international organizations. ...

First freedom

It was also known as TECHNICAL FREEDOM. The right to overfly a country without landing.It grants the privilege to fly over the territory of a treaty country without landing.

Since the end of the Cold War, first freedom rights are almost completely universal, although most countries require prior notification before an overflight. For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ...

Second freedom

It was also a TECHNICAL FREEDOM. The right to stop in a country for refueling or maintenance on the way to another, without transferring passengers or cargo.

The most famous example of the second freedom is Shannon Airport, which was used as a stopping point for most North Atlantic flights until the 1960s. Anchorage was similarly used for flights between Europe and East Asia, bypassing Russian airspace, until the 1980s. Anchorage is still used from some Chinese airlines for flights to the U.S. from China. Also, flights between Europe and South Africa often stopped at Ilha do Sal (Sal Island), off the coast of Senegal, due to many African nations refusing to allow South African flights to overfly their territory during the Apartheid regime. Gander, Newfoundland was also a frequent stopping point for airlines from the U.S.S.R. and East Germany on the way to South America. Shannon Airport (IATA: SNN, ICAO: EINN), or Aerfort na Sionna in Irish, 3. ... Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (IATA: ANC, ICAO: PANC, FAA LID: ANC) is an airport located four miles (6. ...

Second-freedom rights are not commonly exercised by most passenger carriers today, but they are widely used by air cargo carriers, and are more or less universal between countries.

Third freedom

It was the First Commercial Freedom. The right to carry passengers or cargo from one's own country to another.

Fourth freedom

The right to carry passengers or cargo from another country to one's own.

Third and fourth freedom rights are almost always granted simultaneously in bilateral agreements between countries.

Fifth freedom

It is also called as CONNECTING FLIGHT. The right to carry passengers from one's own country to a second country, and from that country to a third country.

Two sub-categories exist. Beyond Fifth Freedom allows the right to carry passengers from the second country to the third country. Intermediate Fifth Freedom allows the right to carry passengers from the third to the second country.

Sixth freedom

The right to carry passengers or cargo from a second country to a third country by stopping in one's own country.

Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways,Malaysia Airlines and other airlines in Asia use sixth-freedom rights extensively to fly passengers between Europe and Australasia. Likewise, American Airlines connects passengers from Europe and Asia to other countries in the Americas via U.S. ports, and British Airways commonly tickets passengers from America to Asia via London. Icelandair sells tickets between Europe and North America via Iceland. Singapore Airlines Limited (Abbreviation: SIA; Malay: Syarikat Penerbangan Singapura, Chinese: ; pinyin: ; abbreviated 新航) SGX: S55 is the national airline of Singapore. ... Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (國泰航空有限公司 Pinyin (in Mandarin Chinese):Guótài Hángkōng Yŏuxiàn Gōngsī, abbreviated 國泰) is an Asian commercial airline based in Hong Kong. ... Malaysia Airlines (Abbreviated: MAS ; Malay: Penerbangan Malaysia) is the national airline of Malaysia, serving international and domestic destinations. ... American Airlines (AA) is the largest airline in the world in terms of total passengers-miles transported [1] and fleet size[], and the second-largest airline in the world (behind Air France-KLM) in terms of total operating revenues[]. A wholly owned subsidiary of the AMR Corporation, the airline is... For the 1930s airline of similar name, see British Airways Ltd. ... Icelandair is an Icelandic airline. ...

Seventh freedom

The right to carry passengers or cargo between two foreign countries without continuing service to one's own country.

The seventh freedom is rare because it is usually not in the commercial interest of airlines. Still, there are a few notable examples. Grupo TACA offers service from the United States and Canada to Cuba, which does not feed any of its other routes. TACA is the flag airline of Honduras. ...

Eighth freedom

The right to carry passengers or cargo within a foreign country with continuing service to or from one's own country.

The eighth freedom is also known as Cabotage, and is extremely rare. The main example of eighth-freedom rights is the European Union, which has granted such rights between all of its member states. Other examples of an exchange of this right include the Single Aviation Market (SAM) established between Australia and New Zealand in 1996 and the 2001 Protocol to the Multilateral Agreement on the Liberalization of International Air Transportation (MALIAT) between Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore. Otherwise, such rights have usually only been granted in isolated instances where the domestic air network is very underdeveloped. A notable instance was Pan Am's authority to fly between Frankfurt and West Berlin during the 1950s and 1960s. In 2005, the United Kingdom and New Zealand concluded an agreement granting unlimited cabotage rights.[1] Given the distance between the two countries, the agreement can be seen as a reflecting political principle rather than an expectation that these rights will be taken up in the near future. New Zealand had previously exchanged eighth-freedom rights with Ireland in 1999.[2] ãItalic textikkllllllllllllllllllikjidfc bb. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Pan American World Airways, commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal international airline of the United States from the 1930s until its collapse in 1991. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In the 1950s through the early 1970s, B.O.A.C. flights from London to New York to Los Angeles to Honolulu permitted London origination passengers to make stopovers inside the U.S. In the 1980s and 1990s, El Al Israeli airlines had similar rights for passengers to/from Tel Aviv to Los Angeles, which stopped in New York. JAT Yugoslav Airlines had similar rights in the 1980s from Zagreb to Chicago to Los Angeles.

Currently, Eva Air of Taiwan flies from Taipei to Seattle to New York, with the right for Taipei/New York passengers to make a stopover in Seattle, if continuing later on to New York, and vice versa. Likewise, Qantas Airlines of Australia flies from Sydney to Los Angeles with continuing service to New York. Qantas is not permitted to sell standalone tickets on the Los Angeles-New York part of this trip, but it does sell tickets that start in New York and connect in Los Angeles to other Qantas flights on to Brisbane or Melbourne.

Ninth freedom

The right to carry passengers or cargo within a foreign country without continuing service to or from one's own country.

Sometimes also known as stand alone cabotage. ãItalic textikkllllllllllllllllllikjidfc bb. ...

Pan Am had many flights to/from West Berlin to cities in West Germany from the 1950s to 1990s, which did not continue on to other destinations in the U.S. However, this example may be a hangover from Berlin's occupied status (did Lufthansa have rights to fly to Berlin in the 50s?). PanAm also flew 737s from London to Berlin up to the 80s.

External links

• ICAO Freedoms of the Air
• Multilateral Agreement on the Liberalization of International Air Transportation (MALIAT)