Why are fifth freedom flights more often discounted than regular flights?
I read on https://www.flypointyend.com/5th-freedom-flights/ (mirror):
The fifth freedom allows an airline to carry revenue traffic between foreign countries as a part of services connecting the airline's own country. Fifth Freedom flights are often heavily discounted and it is prudent to keep abreast of the current 5th Freedom routes.
Why are fifth freedom flights more often discounted than regular flights?
Best Answer
The main reason is that not all passengers will remain in the plane for the whole "way", and there would be to many empty seats.
For example Singapore to Houston with Singapore Airlines, this is routed with a short stop via Manchester. Manchester Houston is considered as a 5th freedom route, people in that plane could have bought a ticket from Singapore to Manchester only and leaving the plane in Manchester, or they could stay in the plane from Singapore to Houston with the short stop in Manchester.
But not all those 5th freedom routes are often, or more often, discounted as other routes. It all depends on the empty seats...
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What are fifth freedom flights?
It's called a fifth freedom flight. And what that means is that an airline not based in one country is allowed to fly to another country where it also isn't based. In many cases, these are positioning flights to get the plane to a destination to take passengers onward to a city where the airline is based.What are 5th freedom routes?
In the context of commercial aviation, a fifth freedom flight is one where an airline from one country flies between two other countries, with the right to transport passengers between them.What are freedom routes?
Technically speaking, a fifth-freedom flight is operated by a carrier between two countries, neither of which is the airline's home base. These routes are typically part of service connecting those markets to the carrier's home country.What Are Singapore Airlines’ Fifth Freedom Routes?
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