I have always been intrigued by Fifth Freedom routes, especially by exotic carriers. Only a handful of these flights, however, are available in North America. Here is the current list (and please let me know if I have left any off):
- Philippine Airlines flies between Las Vegas to Vancouver
- Cathay Pacific flies between Vancouver and New York Kennedy
- Singapore Airlines flies between Houston and Moscow, between Los Angeles and Tokyo, between New York Kennedy and Frankfurt, between San Francisco and Seoul, and between San Francisco and Hong Kong
- Air New Zealand flies between London and Los Angeles & between Rarotonga, Cook Islands and Los Angeles
- LAN flies between New York Kennedy and Toronto
- Qantas flies between Los Angeles and Auckland
- Jet Airways flies between Toronto and Brussels & between New York Kennedy and Brussels
- Air India flies between Toronto and London Heathrow & Chicago and Frankfurt
- Uzbekistan Airways flies between New York Kennedy and Riga, Latvia
- Air Tahiti Nui flies between Los Angeles and Paris de Gaulle (though Tahiti is technically part of France)
- Aer Lingus flies between Washington Dulles and Madrid
- JAL flies between New York Kennedy and Sao Paulo
- Korean Airlines flies between Los Angeles and Sao Paulo
- Kuwait Airlines flies between New York Kennedy and London Heathrow
- Etihad flies between New York Kennedy and Manchester
- Malasyian Airlines flies between Los Angeles and Taipei
A new player has joined the team: Pakistan International Airways, which now flies from Chicago to Barcelona with continuing service to Karachi.
And the fares are GREAT too. Economy class is $248 o/w to Barcelona ($729 r/t including $234 in taxes) and business class is $575 o/w ($1348 r/t including $234 in taxes).
And lest you think PIA has an inferior business class product, check out this flight review. PIA looks like a darn good deal for the price.
As soon as the violence diminishes in Pakistan, I intend to visit Islamabad and Karachi. Now I know that if Star Alliance options do not work out, PIA offers a reasonably priced back-up to get me there. Have a gander at their website.
JL operates JFK-GRU.
Thanks Gene!
Here’s another one:
QR operates SIN-DPS
And another:
VS operates HKG-SYD
@Gene: Thanks for the additional Fifth Freedom routes. There are hundreds of them worldwide, but I am just sticking to North American routes in this post.
I should think about compiling a master-list with all the worldwide Fifth Freedom routes…
Ah, yes. I should have read more carefully!
Thanks for this great listing! I think that Singapore also has a nonstop flight from SFO to ICN (maybe not everyday; maybe only seasonal).
@JK-SFO: Thanks for the additional route. I have added it to the list!
Podcast #68 has inspired me to keep looking, so here’s another one:
MH operates LAX-TPE.
@Gene: Appreciate it! I have added the MH route to the list.
Wondering if any has flown chicago to barcelona on pakistan airlines looking for feedback
Interesting. The trip report makes PIA not seem half bad. Although I have flown Air India to India a few times and there certainly are some characters on the plane regardless if you are flying from Chicago. One time, 1 guy actually lit a cigarette on the plane and then complained when the flight attendant told him he had to put it out haha
Does this route still exist. I can’t seem to find it anywhere.
Looks like it has been pulled. That’s sad…
IIRC, UA had that LHR-BRU flight around the time this was published.. 32 mins on a 777 😎
ORD-BCN is returning this June! Service operates on Wednesdays and Saturdays (outbound Chicago > Barcelona)
PIA also flies to Manchester via New York
It appears PIA now flies non-stop from JFK to LHE but makes a MAN stop on the inbound, so JFK-LHE-MAN-JFK.