Lufthansa defends ‘Green Fares’ against greenwashing claim
The Lufthansa Group has defended its launch of ‘green fares’ last week which incorporate the cost of carbon offsetting flight emissions after they were dismissed as “greenwashing fares” by an environmental campaign group.
Lufthansa launched the ‘Green Fares’ from February 15 on flights within Europe and to Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, claiming they provide “a specific fare for more sustainable travel by using Sustainable Aviation Fuels [SAFs] and contributing to high-quality climate-protection projects”.
The fares are available on the group’s airline websites and via its new distribution capability (NDC) platform for economy and business class bookings.
The offsets are achieved 20% by SAF and 80% by contributions to carbonoffset projects. The Green Fares, available on Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Swiss, Edelweiss, Eurowings Discover and Air Dolomiti flights, also offer status miles and free rebooking.
However, campaign group Flight Free UK dismissed the fares as “grossly misleading”, labelling them a “green(washing) fare”. A Lufthansa Group spokesperson insisted: “The Lufthansa Group takes its responsibility for climate protection seriously.”
The group said the Green Fare payments go to “selected climate-protection projects audited to the highest international standards (Gold Standard and Plan Vivo)”, while the SAF used by the group “is produced from biogenic residual materials such as used cooking oils” and complies with the EU’s
Renewable Energy Directive II.
The spokesperson argued the fares “meet an increasing demand” and said: “The goal is to make climate-friendly flying more common.”
An ‘economy green’ fare can cost 30% more than the cheapest Lufthansa ‘economy light’ fare and 16% more than an ‘economy classic’ fare which includes a checked bag.
On a sample Heathrow-toMunich booking on Lufthansa, the green fare was also priced a little higher than an ‘economy flex’ ticket. The green fares included a checked bag and waive a charge for rebooking but are nonrefundable unlike a flex ticket. The spokesperson said: “The Green Fares are priced according to the market. There is no standardised model for switching from a ‘non-green’ to a ‘green’ fare. The prices are set according to demand and supply.”
Lufthansa provided an option showing an ‘economy green’ Heathrow-Munich fare of £159.78, when the cheapest economy fare was £122.78 and ‘economy classic’ fare £137.78.
However, the spokesperson said: “It is not necessarily always positioned like this [as the most expensive option].”
Lufthansa Group executive board member Harry Hohmeister said: “The Green Fares were successfully tested last year for flights from Denmark, Sweden and Norway. This showed demand for more sustainable travel offers is increasing.”
Hohmeister said it was not possible to say how much more expensive the tickets would be, but they would be “noticeably” more than the average economy fare. (Source: travelweekly.co.uk)
Lufthansa launched the ‘Green Fares’ effective February 15 on flights within Europe and three other destinations
President Muhammadu Buhari has met with Ethiopian Airlines Board Chairman, Girma Wake, during which they exchanged views on the operationalization of Nigeria Air.-In
a release issued on Monday by presidential spokesperson, Mallam Garba, President Buhari told the Ethiopian Airlines Board Chairman that it was a ‘weighty decision’ by the Nigerian government to re-launch a national carrier, expressing confidence that ‘‘things will be alright.
Wake had at the meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, canvassed for a resolution of the legal obstacle halting Nigeria Air, which Ethiopian Airlines has 49% stake, from commencing operations.
He also requested the repatriation of the airline funds trapped in the country over foreign exchange challenges .
Wake, who met with President Buhari on the margins of the 36th AU Summit, said the airline has been treated very well in Nigeria since it started operations 60 years ago in the country. ‘‘Nigeria is not just a market but a hub for aviation in Africa. Nigeria is a special country and nobody travels more around the globe than Nigerians,’’ he said.
The aviation chief, who was accompanied on the visit by Group Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, Mesfin Tasswe and Group Vice President Strategic Planning and Alliances, Daniel Abebe, hinted that the airline had plans to expand operations in the country, with additional daily flight services to Lagos from Addis Ababa, as well as Abuja-Addis Ababa.
He said the airline and its partners are ready to commence operations on Nigeria Air as soon as all the court matters are resolved.
In another development, Nigeria has been chosen by the Heads of State and Government of the Sahel Region Climate Commission (SRCC) to host the Secretariat of the Sahel Climate Fund.
A communiqué issued at the end of the second conference of Heads of State and Government of SRCC, held on the margins of 36th AU Summit, also approved the appointment of Issifi Boureim of Niger Republic as the Executive Secretary of the Commission
Boureim, until his appointment, was the Coordinator of the Transitory Operational Framework of the Commission.
His appointment is for a nonrenewable period of three years, without the possibility of candidacyforfuturetermsofoffice.
It would be recalled that President Buhari had declared Nigeria’s interest to host the headquarters of the Sahel Climate Fund and readiness to provide all necessary amenities.
The “Sahel Climate Fund” is the financial body of the Sahel Region Climate Commission (SRCC).
The body is one of the three climate Commissions for Africa created in Marrakech, Morocco in 2016 at the Summit of African Heads of State and Government, organised at the initiative of King of Morocco, on the sidelines of the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP22) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Among other decisions by leaders of member countries during the mini-summit in Addis Ababa include the adoption of the methods of contributions from the States for the financing of the operations of the Executive Secretariat and the Sahel Climate Fund as well as for the participation in the 1st recapitalization of the said Fund.
A panel of Heads of State comprising President Buhari, King Mohammed VI of Morocco, President Alassane Quattara of Cote d’Ivoire and General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno of Chad was established to support the work of the President of the Commission.
The communique also named eminent personalities as Ambassadors for advocacy and the mobilization of resources for the financing of climate related programmes and actions in the region.
The Ambassadors are Issoufou Mahamadou, former President of the Republic of Niger and first president of the Commission, Amina Mohammed, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Tidjane Thiam, Ibrahim Hassane Mayaki, MO Ibrahim, Aliko Dangote, Ibrahima Thiaw, Paul Kammogne Fokam and Mossadeck Bally. . (Source:thisdaylive.com)