Freedoms of the air
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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 extend 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.
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.
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First freedom
The right to overfly a 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.
Second 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.
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
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
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.
Many airlines have fifth-freedom rights to transfer passengers across the Pacific Ocean via Japan, including United Airlines, Northwest Airlines, China Airlines, and Singapore Airlines. Northwest likewise has fifth-freedom rights to carry passengers from the United States to India via Amsterdam.
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, and other airlines in Asia use sixth-freedom rights extensively to fly passengers between Europe and Australia. 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.
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 obviously 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.
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. Otherwise, such rights are only granted in isolated instances where the domestic air network is very underdeveloped. A notable instance is Pan Am's authority to fly between Frankfurt and West Berlin during the 1950s and 1960s.
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.
External links
ICAO Freedoms of the Air (http://www.icao.int/icao/en/trivia/freedoms_air.htm)