Frankfurt/Main.
So far, only a few passengers want to voluntarily compensate for the environmental consequences of air travel. Lufthansa relies on a simpler product so that more passengers can add a climate fee.
Lufthansa wants to offer its customers more environmentally friendly tickets as early as the booking process. With the so-called green fares, flight passengers should be able to compensate for the CO2 emissions of the respective flight.
According to the company, 20 percent is achieved through the use of sustainably produced aviation fuels (SAF). The remaining 80 percent of the additional price compared to conventional tickets goes into certified climate protection projects.
The group wants to offer the new tariffs from Wednesday (February 15) on Europe and North Africa flights of its companies Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Swiss, Edelweiss, Eurowings Discover and Air Dolomiti, board members Christina Foerster and Harry Hohmeister said on Monday Frankfurt with. The point-to-point airline Eurowings is not included. We are still working on offers for long-distance transport.
Possibilities of CO2 compensation have hardly been accepted so far
Until now, customers could choose CO2 compensation at the end of the booking process, up to full compensation with SAF as the most expensive option. However, only a few, at 0.1 percent of passengers, used this option of flexible compensation payments. Tests with their own “green” ticket classes have found a higher level of acceptance of around 2.0 percent in Scandinavia, said Hohmeister. The short-term goal is to convince at least every 20th guest. The additional compensation options, even during the flight, are retained.
The new tickets can be booked in both economy and business class. In a price example, an Eco-Light ticket went up from 129 to 239 euros in the Economy Green tariff, with other customer benefits such as free rebooking and more baggage allowance being included in addition to the climate contribution. Basically, the prices are based on supply and demand, said Hohmeister. Corporate customers should receive CO2 reduction certificates for the SAF portion of their tickets.
Compensation for CO2 emissions has been criticized to the extent that it could tempt people to buy themselves a clear conscience with little effort instead of acting in a more climate-friendly manner. In the case of unavoidable emissions, the Federal Environment Agency, for example, also recognizes the important advantages of compensation. Properly implemented, they could be part of ambitious climate protection. (dpa)
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