If you feel the urge to pay towards Sustainable Air Fuels as an additional part of your ticket, Lufthansa is extending the rollout of its “Green” fares from the 15th of February.
Lufthansa Airbus A321 at Dublin Airport – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
This is an extension of the trial that we covered in August last year, which involves a new fare option. An example of how it was rolled out is below in Business Class.
And in Economy Class.
According to the group, the Green Fares will make it possible to fly more sustainably in the future with just one click, as the new fares already include offsetting of flight-related CO₂ emissions. This is achieved by using 20% Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) and 80% by contributing to high-quality climate protection projects.
In terms of features, there may be some benefits that can be realised on booking, as the Green Fares also offer additional status miles and a free rebooking option.
The new Green Fares will be offered by Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, SWISS, Edelweiss, Eurowings Discover and Air Dolomiti on more than 730,000 flights per year within Europe and to Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
The fares can be booked via the airlines’ websites as well as the NDC platform in Economy Class and Business Class.
As well as the individual offering, a corporate offering is available too, which offers a CO₂ mitigation certificate for the CO₂ reduction achieved with the Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
In Quotes
Christina Foerster, Member of the Lufthansa Group’s Executive Board responsible for Brand and Sustainability said:
“People don’t just want to fly and discover the world – they also want to protect it at the same time. We support our guests in this with suitable products. We already offer the most comprehensive portfolio for more sustainable travel and are now expanding this further with the Green Fares. The product launch is an important building block in our efforts to make air travel more climate-friendly,”
Harry Hohmeister, Member of the Lufthansa Group’s Executive Board responsible for Global Markets and Network added:
“The Green Fares were already successfully tested last year for flights from Denmark, Sweden and Norway. This showed that the demand for more sustainable travel offers is increasing. Now we are consistently taking the next logical step and are adding Green Fares to our well-known fare structure for flights throughout Europe and North Africa. We are thus pioneering the industry and living up to our ambition to develop innovative solutions for aviation of the future. And we are making it even easier for our customers to book more sustainable offers.”
Carrot and Stick
Whilst Lufthansa Group did not reveal the uptake in fares, it seems the results of the trial were “good enough” for them to proceed with a full rollout on its European network.
There are some carrots in here – least of all the uplift in status miles with the airline when crediting to Miles and More, as well as the fee-free rebooking (which could be of benefit if your plans change).
As for sticks – none as yet. Other than guilting you not in protecting the environment and not paying towards the development of SAF (and other propulsion technologies and developments).
The hard numbers would have made this initiative easier to judge – but it seems Lufthansa Group is going all-in with this strategy.
We’ll have to see if others follow or choose to roll up the upcharge into the fare directly.
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