Lufthansa Group has renamed its ‘Green Fare’ as ‘Impact Fare’ following the introduction of in September of the EU’s new anti-greenwashing rules.
The fares include contributions towards alternative aviation fuels and climate protection projects in the ticket price to compensate for flight-related carbon emissions.
First launched as a pilot scheme in 2022, the fares were made available on European flights the following year and expanded globally in 2024.
The rebrand follows the EU’s introduction last month of its Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (ECGT), which establishes rules to protect consumers from misleading sustainability claims.
Under the directive, brands will need to substantiate environmental claims and avoid generic terms such as “green” and "eco-friendly" on product labels without recognised certification.
Lufthansa said on Friday (23 October) that for each Impact Fare booking, it uses an additional volume of ‘sustainable aviation’ fuel (SAF) in its flight operations within six months of departure. On European flights, this volume is based on 20 per cent of estimated flight-related CO2 emissions, with contributions to climate protection projects based on the remaining 80 per cent. On intercontinental routes, the split is 10 per cent SAF and 90 per cent climate protection projects.
“The new name places even stronger emphasis on customers' contribution to greater sustainability in aviation and thus reflects new regulatory requirements for environmental communication,” Lufthansa said in its statement.
So far, more than five million passengers have booked an Impact Fare, according to Lufthansa.