Understand the Freedoms of Air

If you are a professional working in the aviation sector, you will come across the term- Freedom of Air every once a while. Have you ever wondered what is it?

Freedoms of air is representation of the rights to carry passengers in international sectors. Each freedom stands for one unique scenario of right.

To understand it better, imagine an airline ABC having operating base in Kathmandu, Nepal operating flights to Bengaluru, India and Colombo, Sri-Lanka. Consider the following scenarios:

Scenario A- The First Freedom

Airline ABC is operating one flight from Kathmandu to Colombo. It has to fly over India to reach Colombo.

First Freedom is the right of one airline to overfly foreign airspace from home country while en-route to destination in third country.

Scenario B- The Second Freedom

Scenario B – The Second Freedom

Airline ABC is operating one flight from Kathmandu to Colombo. It has to fly over India to reach Colombo. While doing so, the flight makes technical landing in one airfield in India.

This right of one airline to stop in a foreign country from home country for technical or refueling purpose while en-route to destination in third country is called Second Freedom.

This freedom is particularly useful for operation of aircraft with shorter range to operate flight between two destinations at a greater distance than the permitted range.

The First and Second Freedom are also called Transit Freedoms because of their sheer nature.

Scenario C- The Third Freedom

We have discussed the freedom to overfly a foreign country and make technical landing over the foreign country. What about the right to carry passenger from Kathmandu to Colombo in the first place?

Third freedom is the right to carry passengers from home country to any foreign country. Fundamentally, it is the right to operate flight between two countries.

Scenario D- The Fourth Freedom

With the third freedom, airline reaches its foreign destination country with passengers.

In our example, Airline ABC has reached Colombo from Kathmandu with passengers using third freedom. Will it carry passengers back home?

Fourth Freedom allows the airline to carry passenger form foreign country to home country in return flight. Therefore, airline ABC can carry passenger back home to Kathmandu from Colombo using the fourth freedom.

Scenario E- The Fifth Freedom

Fifth freedom is the right to carry passenger between two foreign countries from home country with one foreign country as intermediate country and the other as destination airport.

Can airline ABC carry passenger from Kathmandu to India. Drop some passengers at India, pick some from there and fly Colombo?

The answer is: Yes it can, if the airline has the fifth freedom.