Lufthansa increases ticket prices to cover the costs of new climate regulations

The Lufthansa Group today announced the introduction of a new environmental cost surcharge to its fares, passing on the costs associated with meeting increasing environmental regulations to customers.

The surcharge applies to all flights sold and operated by the Lufthansa Group from 27 EU countries, as well as the United Kingdom, Norway and Switzerland from January 1, 2025 and booked from June 26, 2024. The surcharge ranges from EUR 1 to EUR 72 depending on flight routes and fares.

According to Lufthansa, the new surcharge is a response to the increased costs of meeting environmental regulations, in particular new EU requirements on the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in flights and adjustments to the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), as well as costs such as Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).

In October 2023, the EU adopted ‘ReFuelEU’ aviation law, which aims to increase both demand and supply of sustainable aviation fuel, with rules covering minimum SAF blends for fuel suppliers, as well as requirements for aircraft and airport operators. The new rules will require a minimum share of SAF at EU airports, starting from 2% in 2025 and increasing over time to 70% by 2050, as well as a minimum share of synthetic fuels from 2030 and also increasing by 2050 .

The EU also announced changes to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) for 2023, which sets a price on carbon emissions for key sectors that generate large amounts of greenhouse gases, including aviation, significantly increasing the ambition of an ETS including stricter emission reduction requirements and the phasing out of free allowances for the aviation sector, which allow airlines to avoid paying for carbon emissions on intra-European flights, as well as flights departing from the UK and Switzerland.

Under CORSIA, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) agreed in 2016 to offset CO2 emissions related to growth in international aviation by purchasing certificates for industrial emissions above a baseline of 85% of 2019 emissions.

Lufthansa has set itself the goal of achieving a CO2 neutral balance by 2050 and the ambition to halve its net CO2 emissions by 2030 compared to 2019. The company says it is particularly focused on accelerated fleet modernization, continuous optimization of flight operations, use of SAF and offers for private travelers and corporate clients to make air travel or freight transport more sustainable.