The 9 Freedoms of the Air allow aeroplanes to fly into the land and airspace of other countries. In comparison to the European Union (EU) which has allowed the mandate of all 9 Freedoms, ASEAN has only allowed the first 5.
Despite encouragement from the ASEAN Economic Blueprint 2025 to develop the ASEAN Community Carrier – an airline license to operate across ASEAN as a whole, there lie the hurdles of different ASEAN aviation laws as well as varied national ownership limitation requirements and foreign direct investment (FDI) policies.
Many experts believe that by allowing all 9 Freedoms, ASEAN can bring prosperity to its 650 million people market to better interregional connectivity and economic integration.
