The Five Freedoms of the Air

General (ICAO)

The "Freedoms of the Air" are a set of commercial aviation rights granted by one State to another State's airline. They originate in the International Air Transport Agreement of Chicago (1944), negotiated alongside the Chicago Convention.

The original agreement defined five freedoms; four more (6 to 9) have evolved through practice and bilateral agreements and are not formally enshrined in a multilateral ICAO treaty.

The five freedoms of the air (Chicago 1944)

1. First freedom — overflight

• The right to fly over the territory of another State without landing.
• Example: Lufthansa flight Frankfurt–Tokyo overflying Russia (pre-2022).
• Codified in the "International Air Services Transit Agreement" (Chicago 1944) — ratified by most ICAO States.

2. Second freedom — technical landing

• The right to make a technical landing (refuelling, maintenance, no commercial purpose) in another State's territory.
• Example: a flight from the USA refuels at Shannon (Ireland) before continuing to Frankfurt.

3. Third freedom — traffic from home to foreign country

• The right to carry passengers, mail and cargo from the home country to a foreign country and disembark them there.
• Example: Lufthansa carrying passengers Frankfurt → New York.

4. Fourth freedom — traffic from foreign to home country

• The right to carry passengers, mail and cargo from a foreign country to the home country.
• Example: Lufthansa carrying passengers New York → Frankfurt.

5. Fifth freedom — traffic between two foreign countries

• The right, on a flight beginning or ending in the home country, to carry passengers/cargo between two foreign countries.
• Example: Singapore Airlines carrying passengers on a Frankfurt–New York leg (the fifth freedom between Germany and USA, the flight originating in Singapore).

Additional "freedoms" (bilateral, not multilateral ICAO)

6. Sixth freedom — carrying passengers between two foreign countries via a stop in the home country (hub traffic; e.g. Emirates Dubai between Europe and Asia). 7. Seventh freedom — carrying passengers between two foreign countries with no link to the home country. 8. Eighth freedom (consecutive cabotage) — carrying passengers between two points within a foreign State, with link to home country. 9. Ninth freedom (pure cabotage) — carrying passengers between two points within a foreign State with no link to home country.

These are rare and typically only available within free-trade zones such as the EU (intra-EU cabotage liberalised since 1997) or USA–Canada Open Skies.

Bilateral air services agreements

Freedoms 3 and 4 (and higher) are not automatic — they are negotiated in bilateral air services agreements between States. A State may grant an airline the 3rd and 4th freedoms but not the 5th.

"Open Skies" agreements (e.g. EU–USA since 2007) grant extensive commercial freedoms and liberalise the air-transport market.

Europe (EASA / EU)

Within the EU: Since the liberalisation of European air transport (1992 / 1997) practically all nine freedoms apply between EU Member States without further authorisation — under Regulation (EC) 1008/2008 (common rules for air services). A German airline may carry passengers between Madrid and Rome on equal terms with Spanish or Italian carriers.

Germany (national)

Freedoms 1 and 2 are granted to third countries via the "International Air Services Transit Agreement" (multilateral). Freedoms 3–9 are regulated via bilateral air services agreements (negotiated by BMDV) or the EU–USA Open Skies Agreement.