In order to deal with "environmental requirements", Lufthansa decided to raise prices!

Recently, Lufthansa, Europe's largest aviation group, announced that it will increase fares on all European flights to cover costs related to European Commission environmental requirements, especially the cost of using sustainable fuels.

The relevant person in charge of Lufthansa said that the price increase will apply to all flights departing from the 27 EU countries, as well as the UK, Norway and Switzerland from January 1, 2025. Depending on the route and flight fare, the increase will range from 1 euro to 72 euros.

Lufthansa said the European Union mandated the inclusion of more sustainable fuels (SAF) in aircraft fuel tanks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in air transport. In the next few years, airlines will not be able to bear this growing additional cost alone.

The SAF includes synthetic fuels, renewable hydrogen, jet fuels based on exhaust gas and plastic waste, and biofuels extracted from agricultural residues, algae, biomass or used cooking oil. The EU stipulates that the proportion of SAF must reach 2% from 2025, 6% in 2030, 20% from 2035, and finally 70% in 2050, in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from EU air transport by about 2/3 by then.

However, Lufthansa pointed out that global SAF production is still in its infancy, and production in 2023 will only account for 0.5% of global commercial aviation fuel consumption. Due to its low supply, its price is three to five times higher than that of fossil fuels. A Lufthansa spokesperson said that as long as the price of "clean" fuel does not fall, Lufthansa will continue to pass on the additional costs to ticket prices.

In March this year, major European airlines, including Lufthansa, called on the European Union to follow the United States and introduce financial incentives to encourage the production of SAF. The airlines also offer passengers another optional surcharge to "offset carbon emissions through climate protection projects." However, the latter was complained by the Consumer Association.

In June, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents airlines around the world, reiterated at an industry conference: "Achieving sustainable profitability is important. This will allow airlines to fully invest in the products customers need and achieve their goal of zero net carbon dioxide emissions by 2050."

However, the ecological transformation has not affected airline revenue. IATA raised its forecast and announced that it expects to sell a record 4.96 billion tickets in 2024, with expected turnover of US$996 billion and profits of US$30.5 billion.

Special writer Qiu Li