International flight

{{Short description|Commercial airplane flight between airports in separate countries}}

[[File:013 Tokyo Narita International Airport, Japan - ユナイテッド航空.JPG|thumb|right|250px|A variety of airliners have moved into place at [[Tokyo Narita Airport]] in April 2012, with all of the depicted aircraft arriving in [[Japan]] as a result of international flights.]]

An '''international flight''' is a form of [[commercial flight]] within [[civil aviation]] where the [[Takeoff|departure]] and the arrival take place in different [[Country|countries]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=international+flight&sub=Search+WordNet&o2=&o0=1&o8=1&o1=1&o7=&o5=&o9=&o6=&o3=&o4=&h=100|publisher=WordNet Search - 3.1|title=International flight |accessdate=20 May 2022}}</ref>

Regular international passenger air service began in August 1919 with a flight going from [[London, England]] to [[Paris, France]]. The journey was organized and operated by the firm Air Transport & Travel Ltd (AT&T), which would later serve as a forerunner of [[British Airways]] (BA). Besides ferrying travelers, the flights, which occurred daily, also transported [[mail]] and parcels. The [[Airco DH.4|De Havilland DH4A]] aircraft were designed for combat during the [[First World War]] but saw extensive later use. Looking back, historical writer Paul Jarvis has commented that during the "very early days it was very much just about persuading people to fly at all" given that "quite a lot of people" considered aviation as a whole to be "just a passing fad." The [[aftermath of the Second World War]] brought about widespread [[Culture|cultural changes]] in multiple nations that resulted in international flights becoming embraced by large populations.<ref name="CNN">{{cite news|accessdate=20 May 2022|url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/first-scheduled-international-passenger-flight/index.html|title=100 years ago: The first scheduled international passenger flight departed|first=Francesca|last=Street|date=26 August 2019|work=[[CNN.com]]}}</ref>

An important difference between international and [[domestic flight]]s is that, before [[Boarding (transport)|boarding]] the aircraft, passengers must undergo [[Human migration|migration]] formalities and, when arriving to the destination airport, they must undergo both [[Border control|immigration]] and [[customs]] formalities. Exceptions exist in situations such as when the departure and arrival countries are members of the same [[Diplomacy|diplomatically organized]] free travel area, an example being the [[Schengen Area]] within [[Europe]]. Said group of traveling agreements resulted from the 1985 Schengen Agreement and the 1990 Schengen Convention, both matters of [[international law]] being signed in [[Luxembourg]].

Airports serving international flights are known as [[international airport]]s. For example, [[King Fahd International Airport]] within the [[Dammam]] metropolis of [[Saudi Arabia]] has the largest [[landmass]] of any airport in the world, with the complex encompassing over three-hundred [[square miles]] of territory. By comparison, the [[Middle East|Middle Eastern]] nation of [[Bahrain]] is actually smaller.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/design/g255/4346192/|publisher=[[Popular Mechanics]]|accessdate=December 4, 2022|title=The World's 18 Strangest Airports|first=Chris|last=Sweeney|date=February 17, 2010}}</ref> These international facilities typically are of a far greater size than standard airports, usually including expanded amenities such as areas with [[Bookselling|bookshops]], [[Airport lounge|lounges]], and [[Restaurant|restaurants]]. Experiences not normally associated with airports such as [[Bank|banks]] providing [[Finance|financial services]] may be offered to travelers in such complexes.

==Origins==
[[File:Airbus A380 of Singapore Airlines at Zurich International Airport (1).jpg|thumb|Larger aircraft such as the [[Airbus A380]] are often used for international flights.]]

One of the first flights between two countries was on January 7, 1785, when [[Jean-Pierre Blanchard]] and [[John Jeffries]] crossed the [[English Channel]] in a [[hot air balloon]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1885/07/10/archives/bostons-first-aeronaut-dr-jeffriess-ventureacross-the-english.html |title=Boston's first aeronaut |work=The New York Times |date=July 10, 1885}}</ref> It took more than a century for the first [[heavier-than-air]] object to repeat this process: [[Louis Blériot]] crossed the English Channel on July 25, 1909,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1909/07/26/101891525.pdf |title=Blériot Tells of his Flight |work=The New York Times |date=July 26, 1909 |access-date=January 21, 2013}}</ref> winning a [[Daily Mail aviation prizes|''Daily Mail'' prize]] of £1,000.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1913/1913%20-%200387.html |title=The New 'Daily Mail' Prizes |journal=Flight |volume=5 |issue=223 |date=April 5, 1913 |page=393}}</ref>

Aviation technology developed during [[World War I]], with [[aviation between the World Wars]] seeing the development of international commercial flights. There was a combination of aircraft types which included [[airship]]s and [[airplane]]s. The first [[airline]] to operate international flights was [[Chalk's Ocean Airways]], established 1917, which operated scheduled seaplane services from [[Florida]] to the [[Bahamas]]. The first regular international service in the world was covered by the British [[Aircraft Transport and Travel]], from [[Hounslow Heath Aerodrome]] to [[Le Bourget]], near Paris.

After [[World War II]], international commercial flights were regulated by the creation of the [[International Air Transport Association]] (IATA) and the [[International Civil Aviation Organization]] (ICAO). Both organizations continue into the 21st century.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Aviation|History}}
* [[Airliner]]
* [[Bilateral air transport agreement]]
* [[Commercial aviation]]
* [[Convention on International Civil Aviation]]
* [[Domestic flight]]
* [[History of air travel]]
* [[Non-stop flight]]
* [[IATA]]
* [[ICAO]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Civil aviation]]


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