Which term describes the rights to the air space above a property?

• A. Air rights
• B. Mineral rights
• C. Littoral rights
• D. Fixture

Answer: (A)

Air rights are the rights to the air space above a property. In real estate, ownership doesn’t stop at the ground; the vertical space above the land can be owned, transferred, or leased separately from the surface. This allows property owners to develop or constrain development upward, or to sell excess air space to neighboring parcels in dense areas. These rights exist within a framework that recognizes navigable airspace and public aviation safety, so they’re real property that can be bought or sold but are regulated by law.

Mineral rights deal with substances beneath the surface, not above it. Littoral rights concern access and use of a lake, sea, or other body of water along the shoreline. A fixture is something attached to the property that becomes part of it. So the term that precisely describes the rights to the air space above a property is air rights.