Freedoms of the Air

[Natstrackalpha]

As we have all the Freedoms of the Air, why do we need overfly permits?


apart from ad-hoc anomalies like: Ukraine situation etc -


There seems to be an entire industry telling us we can fly over such and such a country.


Foreign airline overflying the UK have to contact the DFT.


How much of this is absolutely necessary?

[Capetonian]

The 5 official (9 unofficial) Freedoms, apart from the first which relates only to overflying, relate to the rights to land, and to carry passengers and goods.

It seems quite appropriate to me that to overfly a country, an operator would need some kind of consent. (After all, they could be spraying chemtrails!)