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The freedoms of the air are a set of international accepted commercial aviation rights permitting one country’s airline the privilege to enter and land in another country’s territory. An example of a fifth freedom traffic right is an Ethiopian flight from Stockholm to Oslo on a 787-8. It originates in Ethiopia but passengers don’t need to buy a ticket for the entire route and can just buy a ticket on the European sector.

What are the advantages of flying fifth freedom flights?

There are three, maybe four reasons people choose to fly with fifth freedom flights.

One – while fifth freedom flights don’t always vary in price compared to single ticket flights sometimes you can get a deal. Say for example you want to fly somewhere where the local airlines are more costly. If you book a sector from an airline in a cheaper region of the world, like the Ethiopian example, you could get a great deal.

Two – you get to fly on different types of aircraft on different airlines, closer to home. It may sound silly but stepping aboard a foreign plane is a little like dipping into another country and it’s fun. For example, if you were in Europe and fancied trying out the menu on Air India, you’d normally need to be heading to or from India. But in our list of fifth freedom flights 2018 you can see there’s a London to Newark on an Air India 787-8, which is a nice change from always flying BA and as it’s from India – could be a little cheaper too.

And three – flying fifth freedom flights Europe and beyond, often means flying a widebody. Here in Europe we get too used to flying Ryanair and Eurowings 737-800 from one side of the continent to the other. It’s okay, it gets the job done, but in comparison, widebodies feel like the golden age of travel. With inflight entertainment systems, wifi, actual meals rather than single sandwiches in bags and more comfortable seats, widebodies are a much better experience.

In addition, many of the original passengers have already got off by the time you board. So while you may have the feeling of hot bedding in a used seat, you will likely also have tons more elbow room.

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Can I still get fifth freedom flights Europe 2018?

Most European fifth freedom flights are pretty short hops, uner 2 hours long, but you can still get some amazing deals. The prices are compareable to Ryanair – without having to fly with Ryanair. There’s a LATAM flight from Madrid to Frankfurt on a 787-8 which goes for under 50 euros in economy. Singapore Airlines flights from Milan to Barcelona are selling for around 100 Euros.

Fifth Freedom Flights still available in Europe