FREEDOMS OF THE AIR?

Hello and welcome to the blog.

 Today, we shall be discussing the term "Freedom of the air". In the title, this is followed by a question mark. This is because there have been contentions that these "Freedoms"" are not, in fact, free in themselves, because they are subject to approval and limitations.

The freedoms are Nine (9) in number, which basically seeks out to erase all form of conflicts between Nations as regarding entry and exit privileges in commercial aviation.

They are a set of commercial aviation rights, granting a country’s airline (s), the privilege to enter and land in another country’s airspace. The terms 'freedom' and 'right' are a shorthand way of referring to the type of international services permitted between two or more countries. Even when such services are allowed by countries, airlines may still face restrictions on accessing them by the terms of treaties or for other reasons.

These freedoms came into force as a result of the disagreements over the extent of aviation liberalization in the Convention on International Civil Aviation Act of 1944, known as the Chicago convention. The freedoms of the air are the fundamental building blocks of the international commercial aviation route network. The use of the terms "freedom" and "right" confer entitlement to operate international air services only within the scope of the multilateral and bilateral treaties that allow them.

The first two freedoms are formulated in the Chicago convention on civil aviation. Likewise, the first to fifth freedoms are officially enumerated by international treaties, especially the Chicago Convention of 1944. Several other freedoms have been added and are usually exchanged between countries in bilateral or multilateral air service agreements. The lower-numbered freedoms are relatively universal while the higher-numbered ones are rarer and more controversial, and are not mentioned by the Chicago Convention.

The first and second freedoms grant rights to pass through a country without carrying traffic that originates or terminates there and are known as 'transit rights'. The Chicago Convention drew up a multilateral agreement in which the first two freedoms, known as the International Air Services Transit Agreement (IASTA) or "Two Freedoms Agreement", were open to all signatories. As of mid-2007, the treaty was accepted by 129 countries.

A Country granting transit rights may impose fees for the privilege. The reasonableness of such fees has caused controversy at times. For example, The United States has the authority to charge overflight fees over its territory, and over ocean regions where it has been delegated air traffic control responsibilities by the International Civil Aviation Organization. The fees are applicable only to overflights; domestic & international flights arriving/departing the US are taxed through landing fees.

Relying on this background, allow me to introduce you to these freedoms now;

1.      The right to fly over a foreign country without landing,

2.       The right to refuel or carry out maintenance in a foreign country without embarking or disembarking passengers or cargo

3.       The right to fly from one’s country to another country

4.       The right to fly from another country to one’s own

5.       The right to fly between two foreign countries on a flight originating or ending in one’s own country

6.       The right to fly from a foreign country to another while stopping in one’s country for non-technical reasons

6.1.            The right to fly between two places in a foreign country while stopping in one’s     country for non-technical reasons

7.       The right to fly between two foreign countries, where the flights do not touch one’s own country

8.       The right to fly inside a foreign country, continuing to one’s own country

9.       The right to fly within a foreign country without continuing to one’s country.

The first freedom grants the privilege to fly over the territory of a treaty country without landing. Member states of the International Services Transit Agreement grant this freedom, as well as the second freedom to other members states, subject to the transiting aircraft using designated air routes. Since the end of the cold war, first freedom rights are completely universal. Most countries require prior notification before an overflight and may charge substantial fees for the privilege.

The second freedom allows technical stops, without the embarking or disembarking of passengers or cargo. It is the right to stop in one country solely for refuelling or other maintenance on the way to another country. Because of the longer range of modern airliners, second freedom rights are comparatively rarely exercised by passenger carriers today, but they are widely used by air cargo carriers and are more or less universal between countries.

The third freedom is the right to carry passengers or cargo from one’s own country to another while the fourth is the right to carry passengers or cargo from another country to one’s own country. These rights are almost always granted simultaneously in bilateral agreements between countries. Even when they are granted respectively, air services agreements may still restrict many aspects of the traffic, such as the capacity of aircraft, the frequency of flights, the airlines permitted to fly and the airports permitted to be served.

Fifth freedom rights are intended to enhance the economic viability of an airline’s long haul routes but tend to be viewed by local airlines and governments as potentially unfair competition. The negotiations for this traffic right can be lengthy because in practice, the approval of at least three different nations is required. Some nations have become less generous with regards to granting this class of right. Fifth freedom traffic rights are sought by airlines wishing to take up unserved or under-served routes, or by airlines whose flights already make technical stops at a location as allowed by the second freedom.

The unofficial modified sixth freedom is the right to carry passengers or cargo between two points in one foreign country, while making a stop in the home country, the airlines’ home market. It combines the third and fourth freedoms. Some nations seek to regulate sixth freedom traffic as though it were fifth freedom traffic. China is an example of a country that restricts sixth freedom traffic from third-party countries. In exchange for a smaller state granting fifth freedom rights to a larger country, the smaller country may be able to intermediate sixth freedom traffic to onward destinations from the larger country.

The seventh freedom, though unofficial, is a variation of the fifth freedom. It is the right to carry passengers or cargo between two foreign countries without any continuing service to one’s own country.

The eight freedom is the right to carry passengers or cargo between two or more points in one foreign country and is also known as cabotage.  Originally a shipping term, cabotage now covers aviation, railways, and road transport. It is trade or navigation in coastal waters, or, the exclusive right of a country to operate the air traffic within its territory. Such rights have usually granted only where the domestic air network is very underdeveloped.

The right to carry passengers or cargo within a foreign Country without continuing service to or from one's own country, sometimes known as "stand-alone cabotage." It differs from the aviation definition of "true cabotage," in that it does not directly relate to one's own country.

For domestic flights, there are no licensing requirements for specific routes. Air carriers are free to fly any route within the country, subject to giving notice of the flight schedule to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency. However, international routes are subject to air service agreements between Nigeria and other countries.

Now that you know the freedoms of the air, share your thoughts by leaving your questions, comments and suggestions in the comment box. Thank you for taking the time out to read and share this post.

This post is dedicated to Nigeria on its 58th Independence. It only felt right to discuss freedom.

Whilst the task of a generation was to bring us an independent nation, clearly, the task ahead of our generation is to deliver freedom to an independent people- Fela Durotoye.


Happy Independence Day Nigeria.

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