The airlines in the Lufthansa Group will introduce an Environmental Cost Surcharge intended to contribute to rising additional costs due to EU regulatory requirements.

The costs include the mandatory 2% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) blending quota for departures from EU countries from January 1, 2025.

Additionally, adjustments to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) and regulatory environmental costs such as the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), have resulted in the need for the surcharge, says the Group.

In a press release, Lufthansa Group said the surcharge would apply to all flights operated by the Lufthansa Group, departing from 27 EU countries plus the UK, Norway and Switzerland. The surcharge will be imposed on all tickets issued from June 26 for departures from the EU from January 1, 2025.

The amount of the surcharge will vary depending on the flight route and fare, and will range between €1 and €72.

The Lufthansa Group has set itself ambitious climate protection targets and is aiming to halve its nett CO₂ emissions (those of 2019) by 2030, through reduction and compensation measures, and achieve a neutral CO₂ balance by 2050.

SAF quota

The EU’s ‘Fit for 55’ climate protection goals entail a statutory SAF blending quota that will increase over the years up to 2050. The SAF quota is 2% from 2025, 6% from 2030, 20% from 2035 and 70% from 2050.

Note: The EU-ETS (see paragraph 3 above) is part of an emissions capping system that allows corporations to buy, sell and trade additional emission allowances to be used when they exceed the emission cap. The Lufthansa Group is subject to this system for all flights within the European Economic Area. ETS also applies to flights to and from Switzerland and the UK. CORSIA allows airlines to buy carbon offsets when they exceed ICAO’s CO₂ emissions baseline of 85% of 2019 levels, between 2024 and 2035.