Fifth freedom routes, are one of the coolest things when it comes to commercial aviation; Imagine flying from New York to Vancouver, for example, on a non-Canadian or non-US airline. To define it, a “fifth freedom” flight is one where an airline from one country has the right to fly between two different countries. When you think about it, these flight routings make no sense, but really provide a unique opportunity for the flyer.
First, save money on these flights:
If you haven’t considered before, I highly recommend enrolling in Founder’s Card, which gets you a ton of travel discounts:
- 20% off Virgin Atlantic tickets to the UK, originating in the US or Canada, plus complimentary Flying Club Silver Elite status after just one flight.
- 5-25% off Cathay Pacific flights, plus complimentary Marco Polo Silver Tier status.
- 5-10% off most Virgin America fares.
- Up to 10% British Airways flights originating in the US, UK, or Canada.
- Save between 8-20% on Qantas flights from the US to either Australia or New Zealand.
- 5-10% off Emirates flights originating in the US.
- Up to 14% off Singapore Airlines flights, originating in the US.
Here’s a listing of known fifth freedom routes currently in operation:
Air China
- Munich to Athens
- Madrid to Sao Paulo
- Montreal to Havana
- Barcelona to Vienna
EgyptAir
- Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur
Air India
- Hong Kong to Kansai
- Hong Kong to Seoul
Garuda Indonesia
- London Gatwick to Amsterdam
China Airlines
- Rome to Delhi
- Amsterdam to Bangkok
- Brisbane to Auckland
- Sydney to Auckland
- Hong Kong to Jakarta
- Singapore to Surabaya
- Tapei to Bangkok
- Kansai Osaka to New York JFK
- Tokyo Narita to Honolulu
British Airways
- Singapore to Sydney
- Colombo to Male
- Doha to Bahrain
- Abu Dhabi to Muscat
- Antigua to Saint Kitts
- Antigua to Tobago
- Antigua to San Juan
- Antigua to Punta Cana
- Nassau to Grand Cayman
- Nassau to Providenciales
- Saint Lucia to Grenada
- Saint Lucia to Port of Spain
China Eastern
- Colombo to Malé
Delta Air Lines
- Tokyo to Koror, Palau
Cathay Pacific
- New York JFK to Vancouver
- Bangkok to Singapore
- Bangkok to Karachi
- Bangkok to Mumbai
- Bangkok to Colombo
- Bangkok to Delhi
- Singapore to Colombo
- Taipei to Osaka
- Taipei to Seoul
- Taipei to Fukuoka
- Taipei to Tokyo
Iberia
- San Salvador to Guatemala City
Singapore Airlines
- New York JFK to Frankfurt
- Houston to Moscow
- San Francisco to Seul Incheon
- San Fransisco to Hong Kong
- Los Angeles to Tokyo Narita
- Manchester to Munich
- Sao Paulo to Barcelona
- Dubai to Cairo
South African Airways
- Accra to Abidjan
- Washington DC Dulles to Dakar
Kenya Airways
- Dubai to Hong Kong
- Bangkok to Guangzhou
- Bangkok to Hong Kong
Turkish Airlines
- Bishkek to Ulaanbaatar
- Bahrain to Muscat
- Djibouti to Mogadishu
- Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok
- Sao Paulo to Buenos Aires
United Airlines
- Koror, Palau to Manila
- Koror, Palau to Yap, Micronesia
- Honolulu to Guam via Majuro, Kwajalein, Kosrae Island, Pohnpei Island, and Weno Island
- Kuwait to Bahrain
- Singapore to Hong Kong
Thai Airways
- Karachi to Muscat
- Hong Kong to Seoul
- Taipei to Seoul
- Taipei to Hong Kong
- Los Angeles to Seoul
- Los Angeles to Osaka
KLM
- Dammam to Kuwait
- Doha to Muscat
- Singapore to Denpasar
- Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta
Swiss Air
- Dubai to Muscat
Air France
- Los Angeles to Papeete
- Buenos Aires to Montevideo
- Jakarta to Singapore
LAN/TAM
- Auckland to Sydney
- Madrid to Frankfurt
- Miami to Punta Cana
- Miami to Caracas
- New York JFK to Toronto
Ethiopian Airlines
- Los Angeles to Dublin
- Lomé, via GRU when traveling eastbound to Rio de Janeiro
- Lomé, via GIG when traveling westbound to Sao Paulo
- Bamako to Dakar
- Bujumbura to Kigali
- Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur
- Cairo to Stockholm
- Bangkok to Singapore
- Cotonou to Abidjan
- Kigali to Entebbe
- Delhi to Hangzhou
- Malabo to Douala
- Malaysian Airlines
- Los Angeles to Tokyo
EVA Air
- Bangkok to Amsterdam
- Bangkok to Vienna
- Bangkok to London Heathrow
Etihad
- Beijing to Nagoya
- Singapore to Brisbane
Qantas
- Dubai to London
Lufthansa
- Baku to Ashgabat
- Abu Dhabi to Muscat
Sri Lankan
- Bangkok to Shanghai
- Bangkok to Guangzhou
- Bangkok to Hong Kong
- Bangkok to Beijing
Royal Jordanian
- Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur
- Bangkok to Hong Kong
Air Canada
- Buenos Aires to Santiago
Jet Airways
- Newark to Brussels
- Toronto to Brussels
Emirates
- Auckland to Sydney
- Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro
- Sydney to Auckland
- Colombo to Singapore
- Colombo to Malé
- Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne
- Singapore to Melbourne
- Bangkok to Sydney
- Malta to Larnaca
- Bangkok to Hong Kong
- Singapore to Brisbane
- Harare to Lusaka
- Hong Kong to Bankgok
- Brisbane to Auckland
- Melbourne to Auckland
- Sydney to Christchurch
- Accra to Abidjan
- New York JFK to Milan
Qatar Airways
- Buenos Aires to Sao Paulo
- Budapest to Zagreb
- Baku to Tbilisi
- Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City
- Bucharest to Sofia
- Johannesburg to Maputo
- Kuala Lumpur to Phuket
- Kigali to Entebbe
- Bangkok to Hanoi
Air New Zealand
- Los Angeles to London
- Los Angeles to Rarotonga, Cook Islands
Brussels Airlines
- Abidjan to Monrovia
- Bamako to Ouagadougou (one-way)
- Freetown to Banjul (one-way)
- Conakry to Banjul (one-way)
COPA Airlines
- San José, Costa Rica to Guatemala City
- San Pedro Sula to San José
- Managua to Guatemala City
- Tegucigalpa to San José
- San José to Managua
Korean Air
- Los Angeles to Sao Paulo
- Vienna to Zurich
- Honolulu to Tokyo
[…] This post from US blog The Forward Cabin offers a pretty comprehensive list of all of the ‘fifth freedom’ flights currently operating. […]