A fifth-freedom flight is a flight where neither the origin nor the destination are in the operating carrier’s country of registration. These flights are usually operated as a second stop, either for refuelling, or to pick up and drop off passengers. Technically, a fifth freedom flight must involve either start or end at the airline’s home country, or else it’s technically called a seventh freedom flight (read more about the freedoms of the air here). For all intensive purposes, we’ll be referring to all flights involving two stops outside the airline’s home country as fifth freedom flights in this post.
Things get interesting when airlines are allowed to sell a ticket on this fifth-freedom segment, as these tickets can often be cheaper, as well as a way to experience a new carrier from a new culture. I’ve flown quite a few fifth-freedom flights over the past few years. The first fifth-freedom flight I ever flew was Scoot’s flight from Tokyo Narita to Taipei, where Scoot is a Singaporean carrier, and the flight was between Japan and Taiwan. Since then I’ve flown Singapore Airlines from Barcelona to Milan, Qantas (an Australian airline) from Singapore to London, and EVA (a Taiwanese airline) from Bangkok to London – in fact, the longest flight I’ve ever flown was the Qantas flight.
Europe is an especially interesting market for a fifth freedom flight. The main reason is that fifth freedom flights can typically offer a significantly improved hard product compared to typical carriers. However, there are more reasons that I wanted to get into – I’ll do so here.
Why should you fly an intra-European fifth freedom flight?
The main reason for flying an intra-European fifth freedom flight is that you get a much better hard product in a lot of cases. Flying fifth-freedom intra-Europe can be an upgrade from this…
British Airways “traditional” intra-European business and economy class
…to this.
Singapore Airlines business class and Ethiopian economy class (both airlines fly intra-European fifth freedom flights)
Generally, we’re talking about lie-flat business class seats on short flights, as well as economy class seats with PTVs, much more recline (and/or basic amenities such as pillows and blankets, which are unheard of intra-Europe), readily available charging ports, and meals in some cases.
While this is the most talked about perk of flying a fifth freedom flight, I’ve got a couple more suggestions for why fifth-freedom flights are so exciting:
- Baggage allowance is generally a lot more generous – for example, on Ethiopian’s hour-long Stockholm to Oslo flight, the £38 Ethiopian flight comes with one free carry-on and two free checked bags in economy, whereas the more expensive SAS flight won’t even let you take a carry-on without paying extra
- It’s so cool to sample a third culture onboard a short intra-European flight – even if you’re not served any food, there’s still the general vibe, fellow passengers, entertainment selection, languages spoken onboard, etc. all ways where an airline represents its home country
- These flights can be cheaper in some (but definitely not all) cases, which is great, since they’re typically flown by alliance airlines that you can earn frequent flyer points with
I tried a Singapore Sling on a flight from Spain to Italy (this would’ve also been available in economy)
What intra-European fifth freedom flights can you fly?
Fifth freedom flights generally are on the decline, and that’s mainly a by-product of the increasing financial feasibility of point-to-point traffic. For example, if Singapore Airlines can justify flying separate flights to Barcelona and Milan non-stop, there’s no point operating a flight connecting the two cities. I’m writing this post because I found many current fifth-freedom lists to be out of date, as airlines have since found point-to-point ways to connect these cities to their hubs.
The full-list of intra-European fifth freedom flights is as follows:
- Emirates’ 777 flight between Larnaca (LCA) and Malta (MLA) – daily
- Ethiopian’s 777/787/A350 flight between Stockholm (ARN) and Oslo (OSL) – daily
- Ethiopian’s 787 flight between Copenhagen (CPH) and Vienna (VIE) – Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat
- Ethiopian’s A350 flight between Manchester (MAN) and Geneva (GVA) – Wed, Fri, Sun
- Singapore Airlines’ A350 flight between Barcelona (BCN) and Milan (MXP) – restarts Sept. 5
- LOT’s E190 flight between London (LCY) and Vilnius (VNO) – Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri, Sun
- Finnair’s A321 flight between Stockholm (ARN) and Bergen (BGO) – daily
- Gulf Air’s A321neo between Milan (MXP) and Geneva (GVA) – Tue, Fri
- Gulf Air’s A321neo between Milan (MXP) and Nice (NCE) – Thu, Sun
Emirates’ 777 flies between Larnaca and Malta
Additionally, there are two airlines that have “mini-hubs” outside of the country they operate in:
- AirBaltic has a mini-hub in Tallinn, operating flights to Amsterdam (AMS), Reykjavik (KEF), Berlin (BER), etc.
- Eurowings has the same in Palma, operating flights to Switzerland and Austria
Eurowings operates a base in Palma de Mallorca
To clarify, this doesn’t include the long-haul fifth freedom flights operated out of the continent, which include the Qantas flight from London Heathrow to Singapore, EVA Air’s flights between Bangkok and London/Vienna/Amsterdam, Emirates’ flights from Athens and Milan to New York, Singapore Airlines’ flight from Frankfurt to New York, etc.. There are plenty more of these, and I’m happy to cover these in a separate post.
The best fifth freedom flights to incorporate into your next trip
The above routes vary wildly by price. The Gulf carriers (Emirates and Gulf Air) generally charge reasonable roundtrip prices for both routes in economy, though business class can run as high as £900-1000 if you’re not redeeming points. I also can’t seem to find Gulf Air award space on Aeroplan for any of the dates the route is operating.
Personally, I’d try and get myself on one of the Ethiopian segments. Generally, award space is wide open in both cabins. Furthermore, Ethiopian is selling Stockholm to Oslo one-way flights for £38 in economy, and even business class is £129 one-way, which will get you lounge access at one of the SAS lounges at either end. Personally I’d try to shoot for the Manchester to Geneva flight if redeeming miles in business class, which seems like a lot of fun.
I’d absolutely love to fly an Ethiopian A350 from Manchester to Geneva
Also, as a side note, even getting on LOT’s London-Vilnius flight can be fun. Apparently, the Lithuanian government guarantees that LOT doesn’t make a loss on the route, as the country is incentivised to have a direct link to London (not counting low-cost airline links such as Wizz Air). The idea of having a Polish carrier serve your flight from UK to Lithuania is extremely cool as well!
Conclusion
Fifth freedom flights are flights that operate between points outside of a carrier’s home country, and this can be fascinating in Europe, with a diverse collection of countries. There are two carriers that operate intra-European fifth freedom flights on a regular basis, airBaltic and Eurowings, out of their respective foreign mini-hubs of Tallinn and Palma de Mallorca. Otherwise, there are nine other routes that you’ll be able to hunt down (eight of which are operating this summer).
I’d love to continue finding intra-European fifth freedom flights to fly. How fascinating that you get to sample a third culture altogether on a journey between two countries.
What’s the intra-European fifth freedom flight that interests you the most?