Fifth Freedom Flights: What Are They, And Why Do They Exist?

Fifth Freedom Flights: What Are They, And Why Do They Exist?

28

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.

What are fifth freedom flights?

In the context of commercial aviation, a fifth freedom flight is one where an airline from one country flies between two other countries, with the right to transport passengers between them. These kinds of flights aren’t allowed in all cases, but rather have to be part of an air services agreement between countries (or part of a larger aviation treaty).

I’ll share more routes below, but just to give one example, Emirates operates a flight from Dubai to Milan to New York, so the flight between Milan and New York would be a fifth freedom flight. Why? Because an airline from the United Arab Emirates is operating a flight between Italy and the United States, and the airline can even sell tickets for travel between New York and Milan.

If an airline simply stops in an extra country to refuel, or if the airline doesn’t have the right to pick up or drop off passengers in a country, then it wouldn’t be considered a fifth freedom flight.

Emirates operates multiple fifth freedom flights to the United States

Why do airlines operate fifth freedom flights?

There are a few reasons airlines may choose to operate fifth freedom routes. One reason is because a destination can’t practically be reached nonstop, so a stop is necessary along the way:

  • For example, Emirates flies from Mexico City to Barcelona to Dubai (with the first flight being a fifth freedom flight)
  • This is done because a 777 can’t easily fly nonstop from Mexico City to Dubai without a significant weight restriction, due to Mexico City Airport being at a high altitude (which reduces takeoff performance)
  • In other words, the only way for Emirates to fly to Mexico City is through a third country, so the airline might as well figure out a lucrative second market

Another reason is because a fifth freedom market is determined to be lucrative, even if there are no operational limitations:

  • For example, Emirates flies nonstop from Dubai to New York, but also operates flights from Dubai to Milan to New York
  • This isn’t because the airline can’t fly nonstop (it can and does), but rather because the economics of the Milan to New York flight make sense
  • The market between Dubai and Milan is large, the market between Milan and New York is large, and the market between Dubai and New York is large, so this gives the airline lots of opportunities to fill seats and maximize revenue

A last main reason is because an airline wants to serve a certain destination, but there’s not enough demand to operate directly there:

  • For example, SWISS flies from Zurich to Sao Paulo to Buenos Aires
  • Clearly the airline didn’t see sufficient demand to fly directly from Switzerland to Argentina, but sees value in offering connecting service there as part of an existing Brazil flight
  • Presumably the icing on the cake is the ability to exclusively transport passengers between Brazil and Argentina
SWISS flies between Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires

Why should passengers care about fifth freedom flights?

There are three main reasons passengers should care about fifth freedom flights. First of all, as an avgeek it sure is fun to fly an “exotic” airline between other countries, whether we’re talking about flying Singapore Airlines from New York to Frankfurt, or Ethiopian Airlines from Buenos Aires to Sao Paulo.

Ethiopian Airlines operates lots of fifth freedom flights

Next, in many cases fifth freedom flights are more reasonably priced, or have a lot more award availability. Airlines operating fifth freedom flights often have to price more aggressively, since they may not have the pricing power of an airline based in that country, in terms of frequencies, name recognition, etc. For example, you might find that Gulf Air is significantly cheaper between Singapore and Bangkok than Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, etc.

Lastly, in many cases fifth freedom flights can offer a significantly better passenger experience, since these flights are often operated by long haul aircraft. For example, Singapore Airlines flies between Milan and Barcelona, so you could enjoy the carrier’s excellent A350 business class on this short route.

Singapore Airlines’ A350 business class

It looks a bit better than the typical intra-Europe business class products out there, eh?

Iberia business class on the A320neo

As another example, who wouldn’t want to fly Emirates first class between Newark and Athens? It’s certainly better than anything offered by a US-based airline in the market!

Emirates first class between Newark and Athens is awesome!

Why is there controversy with fifth freedom flights?

Historically, fifth freedom flights haven’t been without controversy:

  • In many cases the “home” airlines in a country have been opposed to other airlines launching fifth freedom routes, since they don’t like the competition
  • Fifth freedom flights from Gulf carriers have been especially controversial, given accusations of government subsidies
  • Many governments have refused to grant airlines permission to operate fifth freedom flights, even in situations where an air services agreement would otherwise allow it

For example, for a long time we saw airlines in the United States rally against Emirates’ flights between Europe and the United States, and it took Emirates a couple of years to get approval from the Mexican government to launch a flight between Mexico City and Barcelona.

Emirates’ fifth freedom flights have been especially controversial

Are fifth freedom flights becoming obsolete?

Great question. 😉 The way I view it, fifth freedom flights are less necessary than they used to be, so now they’re primarily being operated for different reasons. Airlines are now largely operating fifth freedom flights based on where they see demand, rather than due to operational requirements (there are of course exceptions).

For example, for decades Cathay Pacific operated a fifth freedom flight between New York and Vancouver. This route was initially launched at a time when Cathay Pacific only flew between Hong Kong and New York via Vancouver, due to aircraft range.

Eventually the airline also started nonstop flights between Hong Kong and New York, but at that point the airline was so well established in the market between New York and Vancouver that it stuck around. Unfortunately the route was terminated in 2020, and had apparently been losing money for quite some time.

While the operational needs for these kinds of flights is largely limited, airlines increasingly see business cases for operating these routes, to the extent that governments will allow.

Cathay Pacific used to fly between New York and Vancouver

What fifth freedom flights are in the United States?

What fifth freedom flights can you take to and from the United States? Off the top of my head, here are the ones that are currently available:

  • Emirates flies from New York to Milan, Newark to Athens, and Miami to Bogota (all in connection with routes to Dubai)
  • Ethiopian Airlines flies from Newark and Washington to Lomé (both routes continue to Addis Ababa)
  • Singapore Airlines flies from Los Angeles to Tokyo and from New York to Frankfurt (both routes continue to Singapore)
  • Qantas flies from from New York to Auckland (the route continues to Sydney)
Ethiopian Airlines operates many fifth freedom flights

What are the other freedoms of the air?

With the focus of this post being fifth freedom flights, what are the other freedoms of the air? Maybe some people will find this to be interesting, so let’s quickly cover that:

  • The first freedom of the air is flying over a foreign country without landing; for example, this includes a United flight from the United States to China flying over Japan
  • The second freedom of the air is the right to refuel or carry out maintenance in a foreign country, without passengers or cargo getting on or off; for example, this includes Ethiopian Airlines having a refueling stop in Rome on many flights from Addis Ababa to the United States
  • The third freedom of the air is the right to fly from one’s own country to a foreign country; for example, this includes a Delta flight from the US to France
  • The fourth freedom of the air is the right to fly from a foreign country to one’s own country; for example, this includes a Delta flight from France to the US
  • The sixth freedom of the air is the right to fly between two foreign countries while stopping in one’s own country; for example, this includes someone flying American from the UK to Argentina via the US
  • The seventh freedom of the air is the right to fly between two foreign countries, while the journey doesn’t touch the carrier’s home country; for example, this includes a Ryanair aircraft registered in Ireland flying between Spain and Morocco
  • The eighth freedom of the air is the right to fly within a foreign country, as part of a continuation of a journey from one’s own country, with pick-up rights; these kinds of flights are exceedingly rare
  • The ninth freedom of the air is the right to fly within a foreign country, without continuing to one’s own country; for example, this includes a Ryanair aircraft registered in Ireland flying within Spain
Europe has lots of seventh and ninth freedom flights

Bottom line

A fifth freedom flight is when an airline based in one country operates a flight between two other countries. Personally I love fifth freedom flights, since they can often represent a great deal, offer a superior experience, and even give you a bit of flair.

I’ve taken tons of fifth freedom flights over the years, and always seek them out when possible.

Have you flown any fifth freedom routes? What are your favorites?

Conversations (28)
The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.
Type your response here.

If you'd like to participate in the discussion, please adhere to our commenting guidelines. Anyone can comment, and your email address will not be published. Register to save your unique username and earn special OMAAT reputation perks!

  1. Santos Guest

    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...

    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.

  2. DenB Diamond

    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.

  3. Daniel from Finland Guest

    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.

  4. Mike O. Guest

    Just to add, United's Island Hopper is fifth freedom and I would really like for you to do a review!

    1. Tim Dunn Diamond

      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

    2. Mike O. Guest

      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.

  5. VirginFlyer Guest

    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/

  6. Mallthus Diamond

    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.

    ...

    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.

  7. Super Diamond

    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?

  8. Mike O. Guest

    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!

  9. Vic Guest

    Around 25 years ago, CX used to operate a HKG-BKK-BOM-DXB & vv flight. Very popular with passengers and for cargo.

  10. TravelCat2 Diamond

    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.

  11. sergey19 Guest

    For US fifth freedom flights think you’re missing LAX to CDG on Air Tahiti :)

    1. Mike C Diamond

      Technically it's not fifth freedom as Air Tahiti Nui is a French flagged airline.

    2. sergey19 Guest

      Ah didn’t realize that! Interesting

    3. Mallthus Diamond

      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.

  12. ET Guest

    Another Ethiopian flight is JFK to Abidjan which then continues to ADD.

  13. Geo Guest

    My first 5th freedom flight was GRU-BCN with Singapore Airlines. Such a breath of fresh air at the time.

  14. Mike O. Guest

    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...

    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.

  15. Guessed Guest

    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.

  16. derek Guest

    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

  17. NomadDC Member

    @Ben I believe the IAH-MAN flight has been eliminated. I remember you writing about sometime ago.

    1. Ben Schlappig OMAAT

      @ NomadDC -- Indeed, thank you. Fixed!

  18. Tim Dunn Diamond

    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...

    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.

  19. Mick Guest

    I remember flying Qantas from lax to nyc. I assume you couldn’t buy purely domestic tickets on this flight?

    1. Tim Dunn Diamond

      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.

    2. Mike C Diamond

      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.

    3. Ben Schlappig OMAAT

      @ 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!

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

Santos Guest

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.

0
DenB Diamond

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.

0
Daniel from Finland Guest

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.

0
Meet Ben Schlappig, OMAAT Founder
5,527,136 Miles Traveled

39,914,500 Words Written

42,354 Posts Published