Cabotage

Cabotage (/ˈkæbətɪdʒ, -tɑːʒ/) is the transport of goods or passengers between two places in the same country. The term originally applied to shipping along coastal routes, port to port, but now applies to aviation, railways, and road transport as well.

Cabotage rights are the right of a company from one country to trade in another country. In aviation, it is the right to operate within the domestic borders of another country, particularly to carry passengers and cargo from one point in the other country directly to another point in the same country. Most countries do not permit aviation cabotage, and there are strict sanctions against it, for reasons of economic protectionism, national security, or public safety. One notable exception is the European Union, whose member states all grant cabotage rights to each other.^[1]