FREEDOMS OF THE AIR

CREDIT:GETTY IMAGES

The great Dalai Lama once said,“Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.”

The Second World War had a major effect on the strategic use of the aeroplanes for the movement of humans and cargo and thus laying the foundations of air travel .The question of commercial rights was raised for airlines of one country to fly in the other or through their territories.

Through the Chicago Convention held in 1944, the delegates of 52 nations agreed on the development of various policies for the commencement of civil aviation in a safe and orderly manner. One of the policies developers for commercial rights was ‘Freedoms Of The Air’

According to the Manual of Regulation of International Air Transport, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) states a total of 9 Freedom of Air however the ICAO characterises the freedoms beyond the 5th freedom as ‘so called’ because only the first 5 freedoms have been officially recognised as such by international treaty.

So hence on today’s blog we’ll be discussing the first 5 freedoms of air.

The 5 freedoms are further divided into 2 categories –

1.Technical or Transit Freedoms Of The Air

The first and second freedom of the air are included in this.

First Freedom of the Air – According to ICAO, the right or privilege, in respect of scheduled international air services, granted by one State to another State or States to fly across its territory without landing (also known as a First Freedom Right).

Explanation: It simply means that an airline is granted the rights to fly over another country without landing in it. For example, a flight from New Delhi to Melbourne would be given the rights to fly over Singapore or Malaysia and other countries on route . However obvious this may sound, technically each country owns the airspace above it and charges the airlines a fee to fly in that particular airspace also know an overflight fees .

To know more about overflight fees charged by India you can visit the following link:https://www.aai.aero/sites/default/files/Airport-Charges-2015-16.pdf

Second Freedom of the Air – the right or privilege, in respect of scheduled international air services, granted by one State to another State or States to land in its territory for non-traffic purposes (also known as a Second Freedom Right).

Explanation:The Second Freedom allows airlines the right to make a ‘technical stop’ at a country on route if required. For example, we take the same flight from Delhi to Melbourne and instead of flying over Singapore we land at the airport for refueling or other technical purposes and take off from Singapore for Melbourne.

TECHNICAL/TRANSIT FREEDOMS OF THE AIR

2. Commercial Freedoms Of The Air.

The third, fourth and fifth freedom of the air are included in this.

Third Freedom of The Air – the right or privilege, in respect of scheduled international air services, granted by one State to another State to put down, in the territory of the first State, traffic coming from the home State of the carrier (also known as a Third Freedom Right).

Explanation:The Third Freedom is granted to almost all International Airlines.It gives the right to airlines to fly passengers and cargo from ones own country to another.For example, Air India can fly its passengers and cargo from Delhi to Singapore.

Fourth Freedom of The Air – the right or privilege, in respect of scheduled international air services, granted by one State to another State to take on, in the territory of the first State, traffic destined for the home State of the carrier (also known as a Fourth Freedom Right).

Explanation:The Fourth Freedom goes hand in hand with the above mentioned Third Freedom. It allows the airline to fly passengers and cargo from another country to its own country. For example, Air India would be allowed to take passengers and cargo from Singapore back to Delhi.

Fifth Freedom of The Air – the right or privilege, in respect of scheduled international air services, granted by one State to another State to put down and to take on, in the territory of the first State, traffic coming from or destined to a third State (also known as a Fifth Freedom Right).

Explanation:The Fifth Freedom offers airlines to fly passengers and cargo from one country to the second country, pick up more passengers or put down passengers and depart for the third country. For example, Air India flying from Delhi to Singapore and allowing more passengers to board at Singapore before departing for Melbourne.The Fifth and the Second freedom are very similar however Fifth Freedom allowing airliners more opportunity commercially.

COMMERCIAL FREEDOMS OF THE AIR

As mentioned above, the first five freedoms we were the ones agreed in the freedoms treaty but the freedoms sixth to ninth are equally interesting and I would request you to have a quick look at them as well . You can find them at https://www.icao.int/Pages/freedomsAir.aspx.

At the end of every blog post I have decided to share a fun fact about Aviation in general.

FACT: On the 8th of August 1908, Wilbur Wright successfully completed his first public flight at Le Mans in France as the Wright Brothers showed off their flying machine. 08/08/1908, a date fairly easy to remember, isn’t it?

I hope this blog helped you in some way and please don’t forget to like and share it with your fellow aviators.If you want a specific topic to be addressed on the blog you can always email me at aviatorsguide08@gmail.com. Until next week , stay safe and stay healthy .

YOUR COPILOT