Lufthansa introduces surcharge to combat rising environmental costs
Lufthansa announced that ticket prices will be increased by an additional surcharge. The surcharge will depend on the type of ticket and the distance, possibly reaching up to 62 pounds. The German airline asserts that it cannot manage the increasing environmental costs alone.
On Tuesday, June 25th, the German airline Lufthansa announced that air ticket prices would rise. This is in connection with the Environmental Cost Surcharge. As reported by the TVN24 portal, although it will be added to tickets sold from Wednesday, June 26th, it will apply to flights planned after January 1st, 2025.
The surcharge will depend on the distance covered and the type of ticket. It may range from 1 to even 62 pounds. The environmental surcharge for short and medium distances will be 4 pounds for economy class tickets and 6 pounds for business class tickets.
For long-distance flights, the surcharge will range from 16 to 31 pounds in business class and up to 62 pounds for first-class passengers. Lufthansa stated in a press release that the surcharge will be added to flights departing from countries in the European Union, United Kingdom, Norway, and Switzerland.
Lufthansa on increasing costs
Lufthansa stated that the introduced fee is intended "to cover part of the steadily rising additional costs due to regulatory environmental requirements." These are supposed to stem from EU regulations, including the need to use sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which is produced from more environmentally friendly raw materials.
By 2025, planes departing from airports in the EU will have to use fuel with 2 percent SAF in the fuel mix. By 2030, this will be 6 percent; 5 years later, 20 percent, and from 2050, up to 70 percent.
Other influencing factors are the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) and the "Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation" (CORSIA). Lufthansa indicates that although it has been implementing new technologies for years to adapt to changing conditions, it "will not be able to bear the successively increasing additional costs resulting from regulatory requirements in the coming years on its own".
