I often write about fifth freedom flights, though don’t typically go into much detail on why they exist, what their significance is, etc. While avgeeks and longtime readers will probably know what these are, I figured it would be useful to have a consolidated post about these very cool types of flights.
Continue reading: Fifth Freedom Flights: What Are They, And Why Do They Exist?
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I remember flying Qantas from lax to nyc. I assume you couldn’t buy purely domestic tickets on this flight?
the biggest part of the reason why 5th freedom flights exist at least from the US - the examples you use - is because the country of the foreign carrier - has a generally strong relationship with the US and, at least currently, Open Skies, although many 5th freedom flights predated Open Skies.
The entire NW/DL and UA beyond Tokyo operations were based on having local market traffic rights beyond Japan and Pan Am extensively used 5th freedom routes around the world.
Alliances and joint ventures make 5th freedom flights by US carriers much less financially attractive so that the remaining 5th freedom flights that touch the US are heavily skewed to foreign carriers where distance or operational reasons favor 5th freedom flights.
that is an 8th freedom route -see above. It was necessary for QF to have a presence in NYC but likely very unprofitable by flying a nearly empty widebody across the US.
and you can stopover in LAX and continue your journey on another day if the flights between the US and Australia are on QF.
@ Mick -- Correct, you had to continue across the Pacific, and couldn't book that exclusively for the domestic sector. It was a fun 747 flight, though!
@Ben I believe the IAH-MAN flight has been eliminated. I remember you writing about sometime ago.
TWA and Pan Am used to have many fifth freedom flights in Europe. Some flights arrived in the first European city and then continued to more than one city, like a milk run
Gulf Air suspended the fifth freedom SIN-BKK-SIN nine months ago.
I'd wager that ET calls home to the most fifth freedom routes worldwide.
I've done CXs fifth freedom flights plenty of times:
CX from YVR-JFK v.v on the A343 and 77W (Shame I've never done it on their A346 and 744)
CX from KIX and NGO-TPE, BKK-SIN
CX used to have plenty of fifth freedom routes especially out of BKK and SIN to destinations such as Karachi, Dubai, Colombo, etc.
Years before they axed YVR-JFK, CX was looking heavily into MIA.
I've always wanted to do Philippine Airlines from YVR-JFK (They've also operated YVR-LAS on the A343) and SQs JFK-FRA on on their 744s back in the day.
I've also done some flights on Northwest from their Narita hub on their 'bowling shoe" livery back in the day which was always fun!
Thai has also operated KIX-MNL in the 2000s.
When they flew the route, as QF11/12 SYD-LAX-JFK and vv, the legs between JFK and LAX fed flights to/from MEL and BNE as well as the SYD flights. When I flew on it, it was a B787 (the BNE aircraft), so easier to fill (at least partly) than a B747 with three AU cities involved. I preferred that to a connection on AA.
My first 5th freedom flight was GRU-BCN with Singapore Airlines. Such a breath of fresh air at the time.
Have any fifth freedom flights been added because of the restrictions on flying over Russia? These restrictions have added hours to many routes. Some routes now either require a refueling stop, weight restrictions, or maybe even are even impossible to fly nonstop with an airline's (or any) available aircraft.
Technically it's not fifth freedom as Air Tahiti Nui is a French flagged airline.
Around 25 years ago, CX used to operate a HKG-BKK-BOM-DXB & vv flight. Very popular with passengers and for cargo.
I also remember the days of Japan Airlines between JFK-GRU as well as YVR-MEX.
Does anyone remember Malaysia Airlines' flights between Stockholm-Newark as well as Buenos Aires-Cape Town & Johannesburg? I never understood why would they operate such routes!
What is the incentive for countries to allow Fifth Freedom flights? Especially places like Hong Kong & Singapore, with a strong home-based international airline that now has to compete against a multitude of other airlines?
I've had the good fortune to fly a number of 5th Freedom flights over the years.
LAX-LHR on Air New Zealand was a great option while that was being flown.
JFK-YVR on Cathay was just fun (and so much better than Air Canada, especially as I was collecting AA miles then).
LAX-PPT on Qantas was an interesting one.
Was not a huge fan of LAX-NRT on Singapore...my least favorite SQ flight.
But the weirdest one was Korean between HNL and NRT. This was after they'd taken delivery of their first 747-300s, that could (and did) fly LAX-SEL. That trip, to Japan in 1985, wound up being LAX-HNL-NRT-SEL-LAX. Wild stuff and wilder still that Japan let KE fly to Japan from the US.
Yep. It's wild but without the stop in LAX, CDG-PPT would be a domestic flight. For what it's worth, Air France fly LAX-PPT as well (as a continuation from Paris) and back in the day, UTA (another, since defunct, French airline) flew CDG-LAX-PPT-SYD.
Lucky, not sure if you mind a link to another travel and points blog, but this this one maintains a good list of fifth-freedom flights, which is regularly updated:
https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/fifth-freedom-routes/
Just to add, United's Island Hopper is fifth freedom and I would really like for you to do a review!
Guam and the Northern Marianas are US territories so routes to/from there are not 5th freedom but governed by US air treaties and are "home" routes for US airlines. Some of the island hopper routes between HNL (obviously a US state) and GUM are 5th freedom but not all of UA's Island Hopper network
Man you seem to be active today!
While Hawaii is a US state and Guam is a US territory, the stopover points are in foreign countries, with four segments being fifth freedom routes.
I'd also include Guam to Manila via Koror which is also a unique fifth freedom flight.
An example of an 8th freedon flight would be the Finnair flight from Helsinki to Zürich and onwards to Geneva. Finnair had the right to transport passengers on the domestic Swiss sector, but this was a long time ago, in the 1980s and 1990s.
It was fun flying AC from Buenos Aires to Santiago de Chile. We only chose it because they had a much cheaper fare. But it was fun to have a little piece of home in a faraway place.
Good times doing CX JFK-YVR to visit family in North Van but all the caviar and Krug I could consume didn't make up for the late arrival time, which annoyed my uncle to no end.
Did many journeys onward to HKG on that flight as well and with the stop in YVR, that was a loooong time to spend on a plane, even in a great F seat, taken well care of. I think usually around 20-21 hours butt-in-seat. Brutal when you gotta go to a meeting in Central straight from the airport.
Too lazy tonight to go dig out my old Pan American World Airways 1968 timetable, but how about their Flight 1 - around the world service?
The “joint venture / alliance” explanation is a very good one that comes on top of the improved modern aircrafts.
my point is that any segment touching the US or its territories is not a fifth freedom segment for a US carrier.
in your example the 5th freedom sector is Koror to Manila and not the entire flight.
you are correct that there are multiple 5th freedom sectors as part of several UA island hopper flights but the first and last segments are to/from the US or its territory which means they are not 5th freedom
It stimulates traffic through the airport. It has attracted carriers for decades to use the airport as a stopover point. And it stimulates the local economy.
Countries like Singapore and the UAE have historically offered fifth freedom allowance, while asking reciprocity from the counties using it.
Looking at where SIN, HKG and DXB are now, with their thriving home carriers, it looks like a good strategy.
SQ and EK are also still using their reciprocal rights.
This article has not been updated since it was first posted. There are many more fifth freedom flights as of late.
I did YVR-JFK on Philippine Airways J in 2017, which was a lot of fun but since discontinued.
In the same year I did BCN-VIE on an Air China A330-300 in J, which was a neat pickup and way more fun than Eurobiz.
I've done both EWR-ATH and JFK-MXP post pandemic. Flying FRA-JFK in September and hope to add LAX-NRT in a couple of years when I head to Tokyo. SQ can be expensive but virtually always space if you book at the window!
I think my first two 5th Freedom flights were on the Eurobonus Millionaire campaign - SIN-DPS with KLM and BKK-CAN with Kenyan - and I was quite taken by the idea. The latter was a very popular route with those doing the campaign - understandable, given this was rather more convenient than connecting in Nairobi - which gave us the opportunity for a group photo before the flight.
Nowadays, I find EVA's flights between Europe and Bangkok to be very handy.
Your missing LATAM from MIA-EZE-SCL
A couple years ago I flew LATAM MIA-PUJ. The flight continued on to SCL but they had traffic rights on the sector I flew.
Took that one too, KingBob! Was nice, 787 with 2-2-2 in J. Great for a 2ish hour flight.
I agree with @Ben that normally fifth freedom right flights are cheaper and there are many examples that confirm this.
However, the one exception is TK, which prices their fifth freedom flights significantly more expensive - and I have no clue why? For example, in September, GRU-SCL oneway in J costs USD 1243, Latam only charges USD 398 in J and USD 298 in PY, as far as non-stop flights are concerned. And you get connecting flights from USD 290 to 650. To me it really makes no sense to charge twice or three times what competitors charge ...
I recall wanting to fly EZE-SCL on KLM a few years ago but they were significantly higher than LATAM. So I flew LATAM.
Am I correct that cargo flights will run seventh freedom flights but airlines avoid using seventh freedom flights for passegner routes?
Ben, I was literally commenting at VFTW, recently (Gary had a roundup on August 21, 2026, and it came up for some reason), about how you were the one who posted on 5th freedom flights. It made me think of all the other various 'freedoms.' Have you/anyone flown them all?
1st: Fly over a foreign country without landing (UA, SFO-LHR).
2nd: Land for refueling or maintenance without disembarking (QF, SYD-LHR via DXB).
3rd: Fly from home country to foreign country (DL, JFK-CDG).
4th: Fly from foreign country to home country (DL, CDG-JFK).
5th: Fly between two foreign countries via home (EK, DXB-ATH-JFK).
6th: Fly between foreign countries stopping at home (QR, MAN-DOH-BKK).
7th: Fly between foreign countries outside home (FR/Malta Aur, FCO-ALC).
8th: Fly domestic routes inside foreign country via home (QF, SYD-LAX-JFK, previously).
9th: Fly domestic routes inside foreign country (U2, CDG-NCE).
Missing any/did I get any wrong?
Yes, mickyb, I saw/read (his list is at the end). Was curious whether anyone has flown them all? I realize many are currently operational, and some are not.
Thank you, Alvin. I appreciate that clarification (that would have been very cool to fly QF 747 just JFK-LAX). Likewise, I've always wanted to explore Micronesia, so maybe someday I'll finally get to try United's Island Hoppers. As for Samoa, that's a really good find! I'd imagine, APW-PPG is also a wild route (due to crossing international date line on such a short 25-minutes flight time... gaining or losing 24 hours!) I've always wanted to visit Ofu as well (but, I've heard it's notoriously difficult to get to, and not really anywhere to stay, unless you're local/know someone.)
It was possible to fly between LAX and JFK on QF11/12 if you had a ticket on a flight between JFK and an Australian city on Qantas. You were able to break your journey in Los Angeles, so you could claim to 'fly from New York to Los Angeles for a week on Qantas', but do so legally only if you held a single ticket covering both that segment and the onward segment to Australia.
After Qantas B747s were retired, QF11/12 had a break of gauge at LAX, A380 SYD-LAX and B787 LAX-JFK. I flew JFK-LAX-BNE on QF12 and 16, both flights on the same B787. One quirky experience I had was to fly QF12 SYD-JFK in seat 51A on both the A380 and B787, and only issued with one boarding pass for the two sectors (I may have mentioned that in the distant past).
KLM SCL-EZE is pretty nice. In fact it spoils one with the service level. And they even nod to the region with empanadas served on the short flight.
Wow, thanks for the memories. My first Air France first class flight (I believe they still called it “L’Espace 180” or something) was flying from EZE–SCL-EZE 23 years ago. It was a (relatively) cheap ticket, and they were great flights.
Thank you for posting this, Stephen!
As much as I dislike FRA, I am definitely a frequent flyer of SQ’s JFK-FRA and FRA-JFK flights esp. during times when months have passed between Asian trips (on SQ of course).
I recently took EK's 5th freedom flight from Bangkok to Da Nang, it was priced almost the same as the LCCs (AirAsia & VietJet) on that route but included 25kg checked bags. Definitely a much nicer option to get a 777-300ER on that short flight rather than an A320 or a 737.
EK JFK-MXP is often an excellent value - and of course a far better experience than DL. We flew to Milan over our Feb school break for $600 RT to ski & watch the Olympics (flights to SLC/DEN were over $1000 for the school holiday period, and DL to MXP was also a lot more than EK).
I used to frequently take the 5th freedom flights from SIN-BKK in the early 2000s. Swiss, Scandinavian and Finnair all flew that route and with a late evening departure from SIN I could go straight from work to the airport. Business was never full and they overbooked economy so I got a good few upgrades too.
Also QR did SIN-DPS then as well which was a great option compared to Tiger airways at a similar price.
BA’s flights between GND and UVF (parts of continuing service to/from Gatwick) are a godsend. Otherwise, one is taking a half or full day flying via Barbados or Trinidad on Caribbean, or backtracking all the way to MIA. Intra-Caribbean flying remains unnecessarily arduous, and the local options (e.g, LIAT) are not reassuring.
'Off the top of my head... Surinam Airways flight between Miami and Georgetown'
You've got to love someone who has that route at the top of their head.