The Five Freedoms of the Air
Because every State has complete and exclusive sovereignty over its airspace (Chicago Convention, Art. 1), no airline may overfly or serve another State without that State's permission. The "freedoms of the air" are the standardised traffic rights States grant each other's carriers. For the exam you must be able to name the five classic freedoms, distinguish technical from commercial rights, and know what cabotage means.
Origin: Chicago 1944
The freedoms go back to the International Air Transport Agreement, negotiated in Chicago in 1944 alongside the Chicago Convention. Two separate side agreements were opened for signature:
- the International Air Services Transit Agreement ("Two Freedoms Agreement") — covers freedoms 1 and 2 and has been ratified by most ICAO States;
- the International Air Transport Agreement ("Five Freedoms Agreement") — covers freedoms 1 to 5 but was only sparsely ratified.
The original framework defined five freedoms; four further "freedoms" (6 to 9) developed later through practice and bilateral agreements and are not enshrined in any multilateral ICAO treaty.
The five classic freedoms
| # | Right | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | To fly over the territory of another State without landing (transit) | Lufthansa Frankfurt–Tokyo overflying Russia (pre-2022) |
| 2 | To make a technical landing in another State (refuelling, maintenance — no commercial purpose) | A flight from the USA refuels at Shannon (Ireland) before continuing to Frankfurt |
| 3 | To carry passengers, mail and cargo from the home country to a foreign country and set them down there | Lufthansa carries passengers Frankfurt → New York |
| 4 | To carry passengers, mail and cargo from a foreign country to the home country | Lufthansa carries passengers New York → Frankfurt |
| 5 | On a service beginning or ending in the home country, to carry traffic between two foreign countries | Singapore Airlines carries passengers on the Frankfurt–New York leg of a service originating in Singapore |
Memory aid: freedoms 1 and 2 are technical (overflight, technical stop), freedoms 3 to 5 are commercial (carrying revenue traffic).
Freedoms six to nine
| # | Right | Example / note |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Traffic between two foreign countries via a stop in the home country (hub traffic) | Emirates carries passengers Europe–Asia via Dubai |
| 7 | Traffic between two foreign countries with no link to the home country | Stand-alone operation abroad |
| 8 | Consecutive cabotage: traffic between two points within one foreign State, on a service linked to the home country | Domestic leg tagged onto an international service |
| 9 | Pure cabotage: traffic between two points within a foreign State, with no link to the home country | Stand-alone domestic operation abroad |
Cabotage means carrying traffic between two points inside a foreign State. Freedoms 6 to 9 are rare and typically available only within liberalised markets such as the EU (intra-EU cabotage liberalised since 1997).
Bilateral agreements and Open Skies
Freedoms 3 and above are not automatic — they are negotiated in bilateral air services agreements between States. A State may, for instance, grant a foreign carrier the 3rd and 4th freedoms but withhold the 5th. "Open Skies" agreements (e.g. EU–USA, in force since 2007) grant extensive commercial freedoms and liberalise the air transport market between the parties.
Europe: the single aviation market
Within the EU, the liberalisation of European air transport (1992/1997) means that practically all nine freedoms apply between Member States without further authorisation, under Regulation (EC) 1008/2008 (common rules for the operation of air services). A German carrier may fly passengers between Madrid and Rome on equal terms with Spanish or Italian carriers.
Germany (national)
Germany grants freedoms 1 and 2 to other States multilaterally via the International Air Services Transit Agreement. Freedoms 3 to 9 are governed by bilateral air services agreements (negotiated by the BMDV) or by EU-level agreements such as EU–USA Open Skies.
Exam essentials
- 1st freedom: overflight without landing; 2nd freedom: landing for technical, non-commercial purposes.
- 3rd freedom: carry traffic from the home State to a foreign State; 4th freedom: from a foreign State to the home State; 5th freedom: between two foreign States on a service linked to the home State.
- Freedoms 1 and 2 are technical rights, multilaterally granted through the International Air Services Transit Agreement; the commercial freedoms are mostly granted bilaterally.
- The International Air Transport Agreement (freedoms 1–5) was only sparsely ratified.
- Cabotage is the carriage of traffic between two points within a foreign State (freedoms 8 and 9).
- Within the EU, Regulation (EC) 1008/2008 gives EU carriers access to all intra-EU routes, including cabotage.