The first and second freedoms grant the right to cross a country without carrying traffic that begins or ends there and is called the “right of transit”. [2]:146 The Chicago Convention designed 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. By mid-2007, the treaty had been accepted by 129 countries. [5] The third and fourth freedoms allow for basic international service between two countries. [2:146 Even if the reciprocal rights of the third and fourth freedoms are granted, air agreements (e.g. B bermuda agreements) may still limit many aspects of trafficking, such as. B aircraft capacity, frequency of flights, airlines authorised to fly and airports authorised to fly. [2]:146-147 The third freedom is the right to transport passengers or goods from their own country to another. [6:31 The right to carry passengers or goods from another country to one`s own is the fourth freedom. [6]:31 The rights of the third and fourth freedoms are almost always granted simultaneously in bilateral agreements between countries. The first two freedoms concern the passage of commercial aircraft through foreign airspace and airports, while the other freedoms concern the international transport of passengers, mail and cargo. The first to fifth freedom is officially listed by international treaties, including the Chicago Convention. Several other freedoms have been added and, although most of them are not officially recognized by the international treaties generally in force, they have been agreed by a number of countries.

Lower freedoms are relatively universal, while higher numbered freedoms are rarer and more controversial. Liberal open-air agreements are often the least restrictive form of air agreements and can encompass many, if not all, freedoms. They are relatively rare, but the recent single aviation markets in the European Union (European Common Aviation Area) and between Australia and New Zealand are examples. The first freedom is the right to fly over a foreign country without landing. [6:31 It grants the privilege of flying over the territory of a treaty country without landing. Member States of the International Transit Convention on Air Services grant this freedom (as well as the second freedom) to other Member States[7], provided that transit aircraft use designated routes. [8] In the summer of 2007, 129 countries were parties to this treaty, including countries as large as the United States, India and Australia. However, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia and China never joined, with Canada leaving the treaty in 1988.

[9] These large, strategically located non-IASTA Member States prefer to more strictly control overflights of foreign airlines` airspace and negotiate transit agreements with other countries on a case-by-case basis. [3:23 During the Cold War, the Soviet Union and China did not allow airlines to enter their airspace. There were flights between Europe and Japan that were refueled in Alaska.