Lufthansa customers can opt for sustainable air travel

Airlines have long charged customers more for on-board food, extra baggage and superior legroom. Deutsche Lufthansa now wants customers to pay for reducing the environmental impact of flying.

Europe’s biggest airline will offer an option of Green Fares to travellers from Wednesday, adding a surcharge to purchase sustainable aviation fuels and carbon offsets. The move marks the latest attempt by a European airline to soothe concerns over the environmental impact of flying, the most carbon-intensive form of travel. 

“People don’t just want to fly and discover the world, they also want to protect it at the same time,” said Lufthansa executive board member for sustainability Christina Foerster.

The new tickets will allow customers to offset their flight emissions with 20%  sustainable aviation fuels and 80% in contributions to climate protection projects, Lufthansa said.

The carrier did not say how much the new fares would cost in general, but the offsets increased he offsets increased the price of a one-way economy fare from London to Frankfurt this week by about 7% to €230.

The surcharge paid by a passenger would not be used for buying fuel for the selected flight itself, but would be fed in to Lufthansa’s fuelling purchase system. 

Airlines face a challenge charging travellers a bigger share of the potential $2-trillion cost to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Lufthansa and other carriers already offer customers ways to pay extra for emissions, but that is only a fraction of the spending. 

The German airline group has committed to halving its carbon emissions from 2019 levels by 2030. The plan includes buying newer, more efficient planes and making alternative fuel purchases, which will also use offsets.

Bloomberg News.

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