Corporate travel professionals, industry associations and environmental groups have expressed mixed views following Lufthansa Group’s ‘surprise’ move this week to impose an ‘environmental cost surcharge’ on flights.
The European aviation giant, which also includes Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings, on Tuesday 25 June announced an environmental surcharge of between €1 and €72 would apply to all tickets issued from 26 June 2024 for departures from 1 January 2025.
German travel buyer association VDR told BTN Europe it was “surprised by the short notice of this news”.
VDR President Christoph Carnier said: “From our point of view, early dialogue is desirable because climate protection is teamwork….