Lufthansa has become the first airline group to pass the cost of Europe’s new emissions rules on to passengers, announcing a surcharge of between €1 and €72 per ticket from next year.
The Frankfurt-based group, which operates Eurowings, Swiss and Austrian Airlines as well as the German flag-carrier, said on Tuesday it was imposing the fee on departures from European countries to cover the “steadily rising additional costs” of new environmental fuel requirements.
Lufthansa attributed the introduction of the surcharge to the EU’s rule to make sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at least 2 per cent of airlines’ fuel consumption, which is coming into force at the start of 2025. It also pointed to Europe’s emissions trading scheme and the international Corsia scheme, under which airlines buy carbon credits to offset any growth, as factors behind the fee.