Find Cheaper International Fares Using This 10-Year-Old Loophole
Airlines are not allowed to operate charter flights between the two countries if they are not based in either of them. This is why you won’t find Delta selling flights between Canada and France, or Malaysia Airlines flying between the United States and England.
Except where permitted by the 1944 treaty, the Wall Street Journal notes. “Some airlines allow customer transport between two non-local countries, usually when fuel stops are involved,” writes Scott McCartney , magazine ‘s Middle Seat Columnist. “This is called the fifth freedom. Established in an international treaty in 1944, the nine freedoms of aviation define what commercial airlines can and cannot do around the world. ”
Otheraviation freedoms set out in the treaty deal with things like the right to fly over one country en route to another, while the fifth allows a carrier to “sell tickets for selected routes between cities in countries that they wouldn’t otherwise” … “Not be able to fly” if it is a route that starts or ends in the airline’s home country, writes Airfare Watchdog . This means that you can conclude a deal with a new telecom operator:
In many cases, these carriers offer better products, departure times, and overall service than their US competitors on these routes. Especially in cases where you can choose an airline like Singapore or Cathay Pacific, which regularly receives top airline awards over the offerings of the local carrier.
The usual route for these flights is Hawaii to Japan, although there are many options, as the Airfare Watchdog highlights. You can fly from Los Angeles to London or Tokyo, for example with Air New Zealand, or from New York to Milan or Athens via Emirates. Singapore Airlines offers “daily travel from JFK to Frankfurt to Singapore and vice versa,” according to the Magazine . Singapore is the only airline that offers flights from Texas to northern England.
You can find flights on sites like Airfare Watchdog, or on carriers including Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Korean Air, and Singapore Airlines.