L’European Union forces airlines to use less polluting (and more expensive) fuels to reduce carbon dioxide emissions? No problem: the passengers pay, therefore the citizens. And never mind if the sector is main protagonists enjoy excellent financial health, with staggering profits after the difficult times of the pandemic. This is the picture that is emerging for the next few months, when the regulations will come into force new community standards in question. The big names in the sector, however, are already putting their hands forward. The first was Lufthansawhich announced the new tax, from 1 to 72 euros depending on the route and the fare, on all flights sold and operated by the Lufthansa Group departing from the 27 EU countries and from Kingdom United, Norway and Switzerland, for tickets issued from tomorrow (26 June) departing 1 January 2025.
According to what was reported by press specializedhowever, very soon the same decision will also be communicated by other giants such as Air France-Klm And British Airways-Iberia (Iag), then followed by all the other companies in the sector. Which is certainly not going through a complicated moment from an economic point of view. According to the data relating to 2023 provided by Iata (the international organization which brings together 320 companies and represents 83% of global air traffic), the world’s airlines have returned to making profits: the net profits aggregates they reached 23.3 billion dollars, with a further improvement forecast for the current year (25.7 billion). In short, not exactly the period in which to ask those who fly to make sacrifices. But that’s it.
The Lufthansa group (which also includes Air Dolomiti, Swiss, EurowingsAustrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and which operates throughout Europe) said it bluntly: the new tax in force from tomorrow serves to cover “part of the constantly increasing additional costs due to environmental regulatory requirements”. And again: “I requirements of protection climate change in the EU requires billions of investments and Lufthansa cannot bear the costs alone” reads a note from the company, which until now had provided customers with the possibility of spending more to contribute to environmental protection, with However, the results were laughable (just 4% of those who flew with the German company took part). There fee applied to the customer – which will be indicated on the booking pages of the Lufthansa Group airlines in the price details – will include part of the mixing fee foreseen by the lawinitially 2%, for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for departures from European Union (EU) countries starting from 1 January 2025, adjustments to the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) and other regulatory environmental costs such as the carbon offsetting and reduction system for aviation international.
All obligations that are part of the “ReFuelEu“, the set of EU rules which will come into force next year and obliges companies flying flights departing from an airport in the European Union to use at least part of sustainable fuel for aviation (Saf). Also in this case an increasing scale is foreseen: 2% in 2025, 6% in 2030, 20% in 2035, 34% in 2040, 42% in 2045 and 70% in 2050. Within these percentages, however, a quantity of synthetic fuels, the so-called e-kerosene, is also foreseen: 1.2% in 2030, 5% in 2035 and 35% in 2050. It has been calculated that the transition which will lead to zero emissions by 2050 will cost airlines around 800 billion euros, which carriers will most likely “pass on” to customers, i.e. those who use flights for work or tourism. According to estimates, therefore, each passenger risks paying up to 21 euros until 2050. Reading the Corriere della SeraFurthermore, this figure rises up to 35 euros regarding theItaly.
