Direct flight
Encyclopedia
A direct flight in the aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...

 industry is any flight
Flight
Flight is the process by which an object moves either through an atmosphere or beyond it by generating lift or propulsive thrust, or aerostatically using buoyancy, or by simple ballistic movement....

 between two points by an airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

 with no change in flight number
Flight number
A flight number, when combined with the name of the airline and the date, identifies a particular flight. This callsign should not be confused with the tail number of the aircraft, although both can be used as a call-sign as used in general aviation...

s, which may include a stop over at an intermediate point. The stop over may either be to get new passengers (or allow some to disembark) or a mere technical stop over (i.e. for refuelling purposes only). These are often confused with non-stop flight
Non-stop flight
A non-stop flight, especially in the aviation industry, refers to any flight by an aircraft which does not involve any intermediate stops. A "direct flight" is not the same as a "non-stop flight"...

s, which are direct flights involving no intermediate stops. When there is a change in flight number, the subsequent flight is referred to as a connecting flight.

The term "direct flight" is not legally defined in the United States, but since the 1970s the Official Airline Guides have defined the term simply as a flight(s) with a single flight number. (In earlier years "direct" in the OAG did mean "no plane change".) While so-called "direct" flights may thus involve changes in aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

, or even an airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

 at the intermediate point, they are typically -- but not always -- differentiated from "connecting flights" in that the airline will enforce a dependency between multiple legs of the flight, so that leg two cannot operate if leg one has failed to arrive at the departure airport. Direct flights involving aircraft changes are also characterised by having planes at adjoining or nearby gates, instead of being located at random anywhere around the airport.

Airlines as well as airports and security authorities in a particular country enforce different policies on whether passengers may stay on the aircraft on routes which do not involve a change of aircraft. For example, flights that require stopover merely for refuelling usually do not permit passengers disembarking from the aircraft. On the other hand, flights where there is a change of passengers may require that passengers disembark and stay at a holding area for security reasons and a proper headcount. In relation to this, a direct flight with stopovers may or may not involve a change in the flight crew.

Airlines may also market connections to a consolidation airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

, usually a hub
Airline hub
An airline hub is an airport that an airline uses as a transfer point to get passengers to their intended destination. It is part of a hub and spoke model, where travelers moving between airports not served by direct flights change planes en route to their destinations...

where the continuation of the flight from multiple aircraft is to a single aircraft listed under several flight numbers. Unlike traditional direct flights, multiple legs of such 'direct' flight actually operate as individual/independent legs, such that the latter leg can operate without any dependency or consideration of the former leg. In other words, the flight that comprises the latter leg can depart even if the flight that comprised the former leg failed to arrive.
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