Every day, on average, there are about 26 thousand flights in the world. Taking a plane is now considered a common event, and has therefore become part of everyday life, whatever the reason. There are those who travel for work, those who travel for pleasure, and those who travel out of curiosity. The other side of the coin, both for the long distances and the many hours of flight, is theimpact of aircraft on global pollution. Even if estimates predict that by 2050 the number of passengers will increase exponentially compared to the current 10 billion, the challenge posed to airlines concerns environmental sustainability.
To take action, the European territory has foreseen theuse of green fuels which however has a greater impact on costs, especially for long distances. This progression towards a lower environmental effect will trigger a series of knock-on consequences. The increase in the cost of green fuels will impact the cost of airline tickets from 1 January 2025as the airline Lufthansa confirms, especially for distant destinations.
Long flights cause 52% of emissions
I longer flights obviously they involve more hours of travel and, despite constituting only 6% of total global trips, create 52% of total emissions, or just over half of the total, as supported by the analysis carried out by Eurocontrol. Although the decision was made to use fuels with a lower impact, this mode is complicated for distant destinations and long journeys.
However, it will be difficult to completely use only these fuels and replace them quickly within a few years. The alternatives to replace kerosene are e-fuel biofuelswhich however involve high costs. Placing airlines in front of a challenge, that is, to supply themselves with sustainable fuels without increasing ticket prices.
Fuel costs will impact tickets
The petrol e-fuel, currently used by the Porsche factory in Chile, although still in the testing phase, could also be the optimal solution for long-haul flights, reports HIF Global. While still remaining the subject of study, the production of 1 liter would cost 50 eurosunlike petrol used daily which costs 0.6 euros, declares Pik-Mimit, which with the elimination of taxes would reach 2 euros/litre.
The high costs of sustainable fuels, tripled compared to fuels in use, will reduce production which in 2024 is expected not to exceed 0.05% compared to 99.5% of kerosene. The EU interventions to regulate the use of synthetic fuels, the sustainable ones, predict that in 2025 it will be a minimum quantity of green fuel per flight is foreseen. As a final result, by increasing fuel costs, the cost of tickets extended to all destinations will also increase. To go from Madrid to Shanghai with Lufthansa, you will spend 220 euros more, while with the stopover in Istanbul, an increase of about 40 euros will be added to the original ticket.
