European aviation giant Lufthansa Group is to introduce its new “green fares” across its short-haul flights after successfully testing the initiative in the Scandinavian market last year.
The fares include “full compensation” for carbon emissions within the ticket price. This is achieved through a combination of using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to mitigate for 20 per cent of the CO2 produced by the flight, alongside contributions to climate protection projects for the other 80 per cent.
Lufthansa has been piloting green fares through a “test run” in its Scandinavian markets since August 2022 and it will now be introduced for flights throughout Europe and North Africa on Wednesday (15 February).
The green fares will be available across the group’s airlines, including Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Swiss and Air Dolomiti, on flights within Europe and to Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia in north Africa.
The fares, which can be booked in both economy and business class, are available through the airlines’ NDC-based booking platforms. Corporate clients also receive a carbon mitigation certificate for the reduced emissions achieved by using SAF.
Harry Hohmeister, member of Lufthansa Group's executive board, said: “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.”
The introduction of the green fares across its European short-haul network is part of Lufthansa Group’s climate targets, which include halving its carbon emissions by 2030 compared to 2019 levels through reduction and compensation measures, as well as the goal of reaching net-zero by 2050.
“The product launch is an important building block in our efforts to make air travel more climate-friendly,” added Christina Foerster, who is the executive board member responsible for brand and sustainability.
A Lufthansa Group spokesperson told BTN Europe that the green fares were “priced according to the market”, with prices starting at €115 for an economy return trip between Brussels and Alicante. They added that green fares would be “usually situated” between Classic and Flex prices for economy bookings.