From 1 January 2025, Lufthansa’s new green charge will kick in for air tickets departing from European countries. Photo Credit: Adobe Stock/heychli
European aviation giant Lufthansa Group will be introducing a new
environmental cost surcharge of up to €72 (US$77) per flight to cover
part of the cost of complying with new green regulatory rules for
airlines.
The group, which also includes Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Brussels
Airlines and Eurowings, said the new environmental surcharge will apply
to all tickets issued from 26 June 2024 for departures from 1 January
2025.
The new green charge will apply to all flights sold and operated by
the Lufthansa Group departing from the 27 EU member states, as well as
from the UK, Norway and Switzerland.
According to Lufthansa, the group has been facing “steadily rising
additional costs due to regulatory environmental requirements”. These
include the EU’s new blending quota of 2% for sustainable aviation fuel
(SAF) from 2025, adjustments to the EU Emissions Trading System, and the
costs complying with CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for
International Aviation) – all of which may have informed decisions to
introduce the environmental cost surcharge.
The amount of the charge will depend on the flight route and fare,
varying between €1 and €72, with the exact charge shown in the price
details on booking pages.
In a statement, the company insists that it “invests billions” in new
aircraft and other measures to make flying more sustainable, but
stresses that it “will not be able to bear the successively increasing
additional costs resulting from regulatory requirements in the coming
years on its own”.
Last year, Lufthansa’s CEO Carsten Spohr warned that European
airlines may have to increase fares and risk losing traffic to non-EU
carriers because of the new mandate for the use of SAF.
Source: Business Travel News Europe