[AMcWhirter]

This news is sure to make the headlines and readers will know that we like to promote sustainable flying.

The Green Fares will be available within Europe and will cover North Africa.

No details of the actual prices have been released at this stage.

But according to the publicity blurb there will be “additional status miles and a free rebookng option” which suggests the prices will not be at the lower end of the scale.

This is a Group initiative so it involves all member airlines (not just Lufthansa mainline).

https://www.lufthansagroup.com/en/newsroom/releases/green-fares-lufthansa-group-is-the-worlds-first-airline-group-to-offer-an-own-fare-for-more-sustainable-travel.html

[Midlands Traveller]

Sustainable flying is where we need to be headed. But I’m not enamoured by their marketing. Apparently ‘With one click: More climate-friendly flying by using Sustainable Aviation Fuels…..’ as if they’ll adjust the fuel loading depending on how you book.

And ‘The Green Fares were already successfully tested last year for flights from Denmark, Sweden and Norway. This showed that the demand for more sustainable travel offers is increasing’ Not really – it shows that there is some appetite for these in the most sustainability orientated countries in the world.

I don’t object to the objective, just wish they’d level with people a bit more.

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LuganoPirate

[AMcWhirter]

Wisely perhaps, because of the disruption it is facing plus the major airport strikes in Germany tomorrow, Lufthansa mainline hasn’t been actively promoting its Green Fares. That task has been left to other Group members – see below.

So I thought I would check a Lufthansa Green Fare.

I chose the 0730 flight for this Monday February 20 LHR-FRA.

I was presented with one-way fares of:

Economy Light £184.68 (HBO)
Economy Classic £199.68
Economy Flex £219.68

So what if I wanted to “Fly more sustainably” as Lufthansa notes against its Green Fare?

In short you would have to pay for the privilege.

One-way Green Fare would cost £221.68

For that you can rebook without a fee but there would be no refund.

By contrast the £219.68 allows fee-free changes and is refundable (minus Euros 70 fee)

So with a Green Fare you pay more for less flexibility. You pay even more were you to choose the Economy Light and Economy Classic tariffs.

(Note that Green Fare does not have a less expensive HBO (hand baggage only) option.

1/2 Sustainable flying goes a long way. ✈️🌍
We want to connect Austria with Europe & the world. Every day, we work on ways to make flying more sustainable. That’s why we launched the Green Fares. 💚🎫 pic.twitter.com/MLDamxrBZu

— Austrian Airlines (@_austrian) February 16, 2023

[MartynSinclair]

Can someone explain how the environment will benefit if 30% of passengers for a particular flight pay a green fare and the other 70% pay the standard fare. If LH really wants to be innovative and not use sustainability as a marketing ploy, introduce a Green Class or a Green flight where they could actually practice sustainable flying as part of the inflight service.

[Midlands Traveller]

‘Can someone explain how the environment will benefit if 30% of passengers for a particular flight pay a green fare and the other 70% pay the standard fare’ – I can’t see any explanation either. On any given flight it makes zero difference.

I suppose the charitable view is that this will raise the funding needed to facilitate the longer term transition to greener flying, which is undoubtedly more costly while bio-derived fuels remain at a premium to hydrocarbons. Alternatives such as electric are years away and will also require a lot of investment to introduce.

The somewhat less charitable view is that perhaps at some point in the future the green fare will become the standard and the regular fares quietly dropped.

An entirely uncharitable view is that the green fares benefit LH’s bottom line and they’ll allocate the extra profits in the normal way.

[LuganoPirate]

Sorry, but these initiatives always annoy me as they are so hypocritical.

First, no way is aviation environmentally friendly. You can call it green, yellow or whatever, but it does not mask the fact that aircraft pollute! Further it does not take into account the manufacturing process, and where corn is used, many people are deprived of a valuable food source. Emissions are reduced it’s true, but only by about 30% and this is negated by many factors, so it’s not really green?

Next, these carbon initiatives are I think a big con. After LH have likely deducted their admin costs, as 100% rarely goes to the organisation, the money is handed to large operations who have large overheads and employ hundreds of people, with the top people taking very large salary’s, dividends or bonus payments.

If airlines really wanted to cut emissions, they could do it by cancelling short haul flights where good train connections exist. Frankfurt Munich comes to mind here, as well as Milan – Zurich for example. There are many other things they could do but initiatives like this are just to look good and to try and appease Greta Greenberg of whatever he name is!

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GivingupBA, Jacob, AMcWhirter

[AMcWhirter]

There have been a number of media reports about these Green Fares. Every single one I have seen in German media describe them as ‘greenwashing.’

Just now I compared the difference in price between Economy Light and the Green Fare for a long day trip (early morning out with a mid-evening return) London-Munich on Monday February 20.

Economy Light would cost £340.08 while Green Fare would be £414.08.

So that’s quite a difference especially considering Green Fare allows changes for a small fee but it cannot be refunded.

(Note: Economy Light is HBO (hand baggage only) and non-changeable, non refundable. There is no HBO option with Green Fare)

[Author]

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