Lufthansa, Europe’s largest airline group, is adding an environmental surcharge of up to $77 per flight starting in 2025 to help cover the rising costs of sustainable aviation fuel and meet new regulatory requirements. This fee will apply to flights from the EU, UK, Norway, and Switzerland, reflecting the airline’s commitment to greener travel. Despite investing in eco-friendly technologies, Lufthansa acknowledges the high costs of sustainable fuels and aims to share these expenses with passengers to support a cleaner future for aviation.
The Lufthansa Group, Europe’s largest airline group, is implementing a so-called Environmental Cost Surcharge of up to $77.20 (72 euros) for each flight to cover some of the costs associated with using larger volumes of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), the Germany-based airline announced on Tuesday.
A premium ranging from $1.07 (1 euro) to $77.20 (72 euros) will be applied on all tickets issued from June 26, 2024, with departures beginning January 1, 2025, from the 27 EU countries, as well as the United Kingdom, Norway, and Switzerland.
“The surcharge is intended to cover part of the steadily rising additional costs due to regulatory environmental requirements,” Lufthansa said in a statement.
“These include the statutory blending quota of initially two percent for Sustainable Aviation Fuel for departures from European Union (EU) countries from January 1, 2025, adjustments to the EU Emissions Trading System as well as other regulatory environmental costs such as the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation.”
Despite significant investments in new technology and fuels, Lufthansa “will not be able to bear the successively increasing additional costs resulting from regulatory requirements in the coming years on its own,” the company stated.
“Part of these expected costs for the year 2025 are now to be covered by the new Environmental Cost Surcharge.”
In 2022, another major European airline, Air France-KLM, implemented a sustainable fuel tax on its European departures to help offset the rising costs of using more expensive SAF.
Last year, Willie Walsh, Director General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), stated that the airline industry would be willing to accept the reality that SAF would always be more expensive than oil-based jet fuel.
Despite several airline and government pledges to encourage SAF production, analysts believe the alternative to petroleum-based jet fuel faces supply, cost, and feedstock issues.
According to the IATA, SAF has the potential to cut CO2 emissions by up to 80%.
Last year, GreatGameIndia reported that Alastair James, Air New Zealand’s load control improvement specialist, announced the airline’s plan to begin weighing its passengers.