Following the introduction of the controversial “environmental tax” promoted by the EU, costs are rising with Lufthansa; in the coming days, Air France-KLM and British Airways with Iberia could do the same.
Lufthansa announced the price increases on June 25. And, according to the German airline, the surcharge will be applied to all tickets purchased from today with flights scheduled to start on or after January 1, 2025. The fare will vary depending on the length of the route traveled, for an amount between 1 and 72 euros. Lufthansa may not be alone, and announcements from other airlines are expected in the coming days.
At EU level, from next year, all flights departing from an airport in the European Union will be required to use a minimum share of sustainable aviation fuel (Saf). But the green transition comes at a cost.
Lufthansa’s announcement
Airfares increase. The reason? The environmental tax for all flights from the 27 EU countries, as well as from Great Britain, Norway and Switzerland. Lufthansa has announced price increases yesterday, and, according to the German airline, the surcharge will be applied to all tickets purchased from today con scheduled flight starting January 1, 2025. The fare will change depending on the length of the route travelled, for an inclusive amount between 1 and 72 euros.
Not just Lufthansa
“Every year – we read on the company website – the Lufthansa group invests billions of euros in new technologies and collaborates with partners on innovations that contribute to making flying progressively more sustainable”. “In addition, the Lufthansa Group has actively supported global climate and weather research for many years.” Lufthansa, however, most likely will not be the only one to increase prices. In the next few days, according to what the Corriere della Sera, Air France-KLM and IAG (British Airways, Iberia) will also do the same
The European plan for zero emissions
It should be remembered that the European Union has established that by 2050 the area will have to achieve net zero emissions, i.e. eliminating its current greenhouse gas emissions. It will still pass for one intermediate stage in 2030 with a -55%. Brussels then grants the possibility of offsetting emissions by planting trees or mechanically reabsorbing the CO2 emitted
La roadmap
Specifically, the ReFuelEu community package establishes that dal 2025 everyone flights departing from an airport in the European Union will be forced to use a minimum share of sustainable fuel for aviation (Saf):
- 2% dal 2025,
- 6% in 2030,
- 20% in 2035,
- 34% in 2040,
- 42% in 2045,
- and 70% in 2050
Synthetic fuels
Within the mandatory quota, however, the EU has also foreseen in the presence of synthetic fuelsi (e-kerosene):
- 1.2% in 2030,
- 5% in 2035,
- and 35% in 2050
Spending for the energy transition
The Green change however also implies many costs. To achieve goals, the continent’s carriers will need to think further 800 billion euros of additional costs, thus bringing the overall expenditure for the energy transition of the sector to almost 1,900 billion euros
The EU strategy
Furthermore, on the European Council website, on a page entitled “8 ways in which life in the EU is becoming greener”, the role of the energy transition for air travel is also explained. “Aviation currently relies almost exclusively on fossil fuels. Traveling by plane has a high impact on the EU’s overall emissions budget. For example, uA return flight from Lisbon to New York generates roughly the same level of emissions that an average person in the EU generates for heat your home for an entire year”, it is read. “Under the new rules, the aviation sector will see an increase in the use of sustainable fuels,” it adds.
Lufthansa’s position
Lufthansa had long complained about the additional costs imposed on European airlines by EU regulations and national taxes. “A Lufthansa flight from Madrid with a transfer from Frankfurt to Shanghai and back will cost around 220 euros more in 2035,” the Lufthansa Group had already stated in a recent documentcomparing it to an increase of approximately 40 euro for the same trip with a flight of a non-European airline flying via Istanbul
CO2 compensation
The same document also states that “since February 2023, more than one million passengers of the Lufthansa Group have already opted for a Green Fares ticket, thus offsetting their individual CO2 emissions linked to the flight. In total, over 77,000 tonnes of Co2 were offset.”
The EU unloads the green revolution on citizens
With the new measures imposed by the EU, European citizens are seriously at risk of being the sacrificial victim on the altar of ecological transition. The latest example comes from the exponential increase in airline ticket prices, a direct consequence of the new environmental tax imposed by the European Union.
Under the “excuse” of reducing the environmental impact of the airline sector, Brussels has decided to make citizens pay dearly, unloading the burden of this green revolution on them.
The result? A unsustainable price increase of airline tickets, which makes air travel a luxury for many. Families, students, workers: all penalized by this short-sighted choice of the European Union.
An ineffective and unfair measure
But not only is this measure unfair, it is also ineffective. Raising ticket prices will not discourage air travel; on the contrary, it could push people to fly with non-European low-cost airlines, which are not subject to the tax.
The European Union, with these decisions made from aboverisks not taking into account the concrete consequences for citizens: the ecological transition cannot be achieved at the expense of families and businesses.
Serve un action plan involving all the players involved, from airlines to national governments, including citizens. A plan that aims to reduce the environmental impact of the aviation sector in a way fair and sustainablewithout penalizing citizens and businesses.
