Overview
- .fly is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) applied for and operated by Google through Charleston Road Registry Inc.
- The string is intended to provide a dedicated domain space associated with the term 'fly' for content, products and services related to air travel.
- The .fly zone was delegated to the DNS root on 15 September 2014.
History
- Applied for in ICANN's New gTLD Program (application revealed 13 June 2012).
- A Registry Agreement with ICANN was signed on 8 May 2014 after passing initial evaluation.
- .fly was delegated to the Root Zone on 15 September 2014.
Usage and Audience
- Target audience: airlines, travel agencies, travel resellers and related travel industry services.
- Intended use cases (as proposed by the applicant):
- Branded airline web spaces (eg, airline.fly)
- Discount or promotional offerings (eg, sales.fly)
- Custom frequent-flyer or VIP services (eg, i.fly, vip.fly)
- The applicant described the gTLD as a way to organize and signal air-travel-related content on the Internet.
Registration Rules
- Registry operator: Charleston Road Registry (Google) intends to make registry services available to all ICANN-accredited registrars.
- The applicant proposed eligibility restrictions: registration limited to verified airlines, travel agencies and travel resellers.
- Planned verification and enforcement measures described by the applicant include:
- Registrar confirmation that an applicant is an authorized seller of airline travel via an established verification process.
- Registrant verification enforcement policies that registrars must implement.
- Periodic audits and monitoring measures to preserve integrity of the gTLD.
- Enforcement actions, including registrar-facilitated complaint reporting and potential suspension for violations.
SEO and Brand Impact
- The applicant stated that .fly would enhance consumer choice and create a domain space that signals the kind of content available (air-travel-related services), potentially supporting brand clarity for industry participants.
- Charleston Road Registry committed to implementing intellectual property rights protection mechanisms aimed at fostering trust and protecting brands within the gTLD.
Notable Cases or Examples
- A community objection to the application was filed by Fairsearch.org; the objection was dismissed on 25 September 2013.
- Key milestones: Registry Agreement signed on 8 May 2014 and delegation to the DNS root on 15 September 2014.
- The applicant provided proposed example second-level names (airline.fly, sales.fly, i.fly, vip.fly) but no specific live or famous deployments are cited in the provided material.
Operator
Charleston Road Registry Inc.
Whois
% IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org
% This query returned 1 object
domain: FLY
organisation: Charleston Road Registry Inc.
address: 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
address: Mountain View CA 94043
address: United States of America (the)
contact: administrative
name: TLD Admin
organisation: Google Inc.
address: 111 8th Avenue
address: New York NY 10011
address: United States of America (the)
phone: +1 404 978 8419
fax-no: +1 650 492 5631
e-mail: iana-contact@google.com
contact: technical
name: TLD Engineering
organisation: Google Inc.
address: 76 Ninth Avenue, 4th Floor
address: New York NY 10011
address: United States of America (the)
phone: +1 404 978 8419
fax-no: +1 650 492 5631
e-mail: crr-tech@google.com
nserver: NS-TLD1.CHARLESTONROADREGISTRY.COM 2001:4860:4802:32:0:0:0:69 216.239.32.105
nserver: NS-TLD2.CHARLESTONROADREGISTRY.COM 2001:4860:4802:34:0:0:0:69 216.239.34.105
nserver: NS-TLD3.CHARLESTONROADREGISTRY.COM 2001:4860:4802:36:0:0:0:69 216.239.36.105
nserver: NS-TLD4.CHARLESTONROADREGISTRY.COM 2001:4860:4802:38:0:0:0:69 216.239.38.105
nserver: NS-TLD5.CHARLESTONROADREGISTRY.COM 2001:4860:4805:0:0:0:0:69 216.239.60.105
ds-rdata: 65399 8 2 78e00a911e48a9109506338e1fb131c462333aa1e35c00e2f24971d28a97cbd0
whois:
status: ACTIVE
remarks: Registration information: https://www.registry.google
created: 2014-08-23
changed: 2025-04-11
source: IANA
