The Chicago Convention
The convention accepts the principle that every State has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory (25NM off-shore and vertically unlimited) and provides that no scheduled international air service may operate over or into the territory of a contracting state without its previous consent.
The five (5) freedoms
By means of the International Air Services Transit Agreement the following five freedoms are in place:
- 1st freedom: the right of aircraft from signatory State A to overfly State B without landing.
- 2nd freedom: the right of aircraft from State A to land in State B for technical reasons (i.e. refueling).
- 3rd freedom: the right of aircraft from State A to accept paying traffic from State A and put down in State B.
- 4th freedom: the right of aircraft from State A to accept paying traffic from State B and put down in State A.
- 5th freedom: the right of aircraft form State A to accept paying traffic from State B and put down in State C.
Cabotage
The International Air Services Transit Agreement does not allow aircraft of one State to commercially operate solely/ wholly inside another State (domestic). Operating illegally on domestic routes is committing an offense known as unlawful cabotage.