A direct flight in the aviation industry traditionally refers to any flight between two destinations by an airline involving at least one intermediate stop, but with no change in flight numbers. With the advent of code sharing in particular, however, contemporary definitions of the term may include flights which also involve a change in aircraft and/or airline.

Laymen often erroneously assume that a direct flight is similar in meaning to a non-stop flight, the latter of which involves no intermediate stops during the entire flight.