Lufthansa Group has announced a new surcharge which it says is “intended to cover part of the steadily rising additional costs due to regulatory environmental requirements”.
The Environmental Cost Surcharge applies to flights sold and operated by the Lufthansa Group, departing from the EU, UK, Norway and Switzerland.
The new fee – which will vary between €1 and €72 depending on the route and fare – is already being applied to new tickets purchased for departures from 1 January, 2025.
Lufthansa Group cited the statutory blending quota of initially two percent for Sustainable Aviation Fuel for departures from EU countries from 2025, as well as adjustments to the EU Emissions Trading System, and “other regulatory environmental costs such as the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation” as reasons for the introduction of the surcharge.
The group said it “invests billions in new technologies every year and works together with partners on innovations that help to make flying more sustainable step by step and drive the scaling of key technologies beyond the Lufthansa Group”.
But it added that it would “not be able to bear the successively increasing additional costs resulting from regulatory requirements in the coming years on its own”, with part of these costs for the year 2025 now set to be covered by the new surcharge.
Earlier this year Lufthansa Group said it had passed the milestone of one million passengers purchasing its Green Fares, a fare which fare allows customers to purchase a ticket including the offsetting of their individual flight-related CO2 emissions, along with other benefits including additional status miles and a free rebooking option.
Currently the Green Fares offer a 20:80 combination of carbon offsetting on European routes through the use of sustainable aviation fuels and climate protection projects, while on long-haul services the ratio is 10:90.
More than one million passengers opt for Lufthansa Group’s Green Fares
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