With environmentalism being an increasingly hot topic in the aviation industry, we’ve seen many airlines introduce options to carbon offset tickets.
Lufthansa Group has offered this concept on select flights for a couple of years now — this was first trialed in 2022, before being consistently offered as of early 2023 on short haul flights. There’s now an update, as Lufthansa Group is preparing to launch these green fares on long haul flights as well.
Ironically, these green fares almost seem more targeted at business travelers who are also points addicts than anything else. I can’t decide if these are malarkey, kind of genius, or both.
The basics of Lufthansa’s green fares
Lufthansa Group is offering fare bundles that are all about environmentalism, known as green fares. As it’s promoted, these fares offer “full CO2 compensation” with the price.
Within Europe, this includes 80% offsetting done “through high-quality climate projection projects” and 20% offsetting done through the use of sustainable aviation fuels. On intercontinental flights, the percentage is instead 90% and 10% (since sustainable aviation fuel is expensive, so that adds up on longer flights).
These green fares were rolled out on short haul flights as of February 2023. It has now been announced that as of December 2024, these fares will be available on Lufthansa Group flights worldwide. This includes flights on Lufthansa, Austrian, Brussels, SWISS, Edelweiss, Discover Airlines, and Air Dolomiti, covering more than 850,000 flights per year. Passengers across cabins are able to book these fares, including those in economy, premium economy, business, and first.
Customers searching for tickets on eligible routes should see these fares alongside the typical fare bands, including Light, Classic, and Flex. These fares don’t just include carbon offsets, but also include free rebooking, and extra status and award miles.
This is part of Lufthansa Group’s goal of halving net CO2 emissions by 2030 (compared to 2019), and becoming carbon neutral by 2050. The company claims that since launching this fare bundle, more than two million passengers have opted for this, offsetting almost 190,000 tons of CO2, which corresponds to the CO2 emissions on more than 1,300 Airbus A350 flights from Munich to New York.
Here’s how Dieter Vranckx, Lufthansa Group’s Chief Commercial Officer, describes this initiative:
“We have set ourselves ambitious goals to make flying more sustainable. To achieve this, we are investing billions of euros every year in new aircraft and pioneering technologies, among other things. With our innovative Green Fares, we are also involving our customers and offering them – as the first airline group worldwide – the opportunity to actively contribute to more sustainable aviation on more than 850,000 flights. Extending Green Fares to the Lufthansa Group’s global long-haul network is an enormously important and consistent step – not only for us, but for the entire aviation industry.”
What makes Lufthansa’s green fares interesting
How are Lufthansa’s green fares priced? Let’s take a look at pricing in economy for a one-way ticket from Frankfurt to Stockholm. Lufthansa has four fare tiers, including Light, Classic, Green, and Flex. The green fare is the second most expensive bundle:
- It offers free rebooking, like Flex, but doesn’t offer free refunds, unlike Flex
- It offers a standard seat reservation, but not premium seating, like Flex
- In addition to carbon offsets, it offers 20% bonus award miles and 20% bonus status miles
What’s interesting is that when these fares were introduced, the pricing was generally in line with the Flex fare, while now the pricing is between the Flex and Classic fare.
I also find it noteworthy how green fares area almost designed in a way so that they could be appealing even if you don’t care about the carbon offsetting aspect of it. Maybe not for those paying out of pocket, but for those who are traveling on business and have some freedom with how they book, I could see people going for a fare that includes 20% extra award and status miles.
It’s a bit ironic that the fare that offers full carbon offsets might actually be most appealing to business travelers who are also status and miles junkies… and that might not be a bad thing?
Bottom line
For a couple of years now, Lufthansa Group has been offering green fares in one form or another. Starting next week, these fares will be expanded to intercontinental markets. As you’d guess based on the name, these fare bundles allow you to offset your carbon emissions, and offer a slew of other perks as well.
I feel like the way these fares are structured, they’re almost intended for people on expense accounts who value their elite status, since there are benefits here beyond the offsets.
Personally I’m a big fan of how Air France-KLM approach carbon offsets, as you can earn a variable number of XPs (the system for qualifying for status) by paying to offset your flight.
What do you make of the Lufthansa Group green fares?
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