hr: Jets

Under the Chicago Convention, the privilege of flying through or into a foreign country was categorized into five so-called “freedoms of the air.” The first freedom is referred to as transit rights which carries the privilege of flying across a country nonstop and flying across with a stop for technical purposes only. 

Photo Credit: Ack Ook

The other freedoms of the air are known as traffic rights, referring to passengers, mail, or cargo carried on a commercial aircraft. The third is the privilege of bringing in and discharging traffic from the home state of the aircraft or airline; the fourth is that of picking up traffic for the home state of the aircraft or airline and the fifth is that of picking up traffic for or discharging traffic from third states in the territory of the state granting the privilege.

As early as the 1920s, it became clear in most countries, either through judicial decisions or express legislation, that aircrafts would be allowed to fly over the private properties of others in normal flight in accordance with aeronautical regulations.

While aircraft may fly over private lands in normal flight, most national laws protect the landowner against excessively low flights and other undue interference with his possession and use of land, such as the performance of aerobatics and buzzing.

Go to the Federal Aviation Administration site to get more information on the airspace regulations on civil and commercial aviation.