Cabotage

Cabotage is the transport of people, goods or luggage between various places in the territory of a state (ports, airports, etc.) without leaving it. Originally it referred to navigation, but nowadays it is also applied to air transport and land transport.

Etymology

Etymologically it means sailing from cape to cape and probably comes from the French word “caboter”, which refers to navigation between capes (or from cape to cape), since this is the heading that takes the skipper as the next point to avoid on the coastline during navigation to a remote destination.

Description

In naval terms, cabotage is the transport of cargo and passengers between ports of the same country, sailing relatively close to the coast.

In aeronautics, the distinction is made between an "international flight" and a "cabotage flight" due to the fundamental difference that the latter does not require additional customs and immigration procedures. In English, the international language of aeronautics, is called domestic flight, a concept that can also be translated as "national flight".

History

There is a theory that the name of this coastal navigation was coined thanks to Sebastián Caboto, a marine explorer who traveled the eastern coast of North America during the century XVI, applying this navigation system.

In Spain, trips made by companies or individuals carriers of the European Union, have the legal hierarchy of cabotage transport.