Air travel accounts for nearly three percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, and one airline that stands out for how it’s been consciously upping its eco game is the Lufthansa Group. As a global industry leader, the Lufthansa Group is at the forefront of sustainable air travel, setting targets to become carbon-neutral by 2050 and cutting its net carbon emissions in half by 2030. Here’s how they’re making it happen.
A modern and efficient fleet
By 2030, Lufthansa will put at least 190 more modern and fuel-efficient aircraft into service.
It takes a lot more than carbon offsets for an airline to be truly sustainable. One of the most effective instruments for reducing carbon emissions is flying more modern and fuel-efficient aircraft. By 2030, Lufthansa will put at least 190 more sustainable aircraft into service, reducing fuel consumption and CO₂-emissions by up to 30 percent compared to their respective predecessors. Measures for the technical modification of the existing fleet to increase ecological and economic efficiency include equipping aircraft with fuel-saving technology AeroSHARK (a thin bionic film applied to an aircraft’s outer skin to optimize airflow, and in turn, fuel consumption and carbon emission), and reducing noise.
Sustainable aviation fuel
Lufthansa was Europe’s largest customer for sustainable fuel in 2021.
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For years, Lufthansa has been one of the largest purchasers of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), an umbrella term for all aviation fuels produced using sustainable alternatives rather than using fossil energy sources. The brand is also actively committed to several projects developing production methods that will allow this sustainable alternative to be available on a large, global scale. One example is that Lufthansa is a partner and pilot customer of one of the world’s first plants for the production of Power-to-Liquid crude oil, created using renewably, generated electricity, water, and CO₂ captured from the atmosphere. In addition, Lufthansa Group and SWISS concluded a strategic collaboration with ETH Zurich spinoff Synhelion to bring solar aviation fuel to market and is set to become the first customer for the solar kerosene soon.
Food and drinks are packaged using sustainable material.
In-flight waste and plastic reduction
Lufthansa continuously aims to make the in-flight experience more sustainable by avoiding single-use plastic and developing sustainable designs of its airlines’ onboard products. A large proportion of the fresh products from their food program, Onboard Delights, are packaged in PaperWise material made from agricultural waste material and produced using 100-percent renewable energy. The company even won a German Design Award 2022 in the category of “Excellent Communications Design – Packaging” for the packaging of its new food offering. Lufthansa Group aims to remove or replace single-use plastic parts onboard with sustainable alternatives.
Offset CO₂ emissions directly
From the moment you book your flight, you can make a contribution to climate protection. In 2019, the Lufthansa Innovation Hub launched the digital compensation platform, Compensaid, enabling passengers to track and offset their individual carbon footprint through the use of SAF, investing in climate protection projects run by the non-profit organization myclimate, or a mix of both. Lufthansa Group has integrated the option for carbon-neutral flying directly into the booking to make it easier to fly the sustainable way.
Lufthansa now allows passengers to offset their CO2 emissions in-flight.
Commitment to climate research and environmental management
Lufthansa Group has been making valuable contributions to climate research since 1994. In addition to carrying passengers, Lufthansa Group aircraft are also in the service of climate research, helping analyze the composition of the middle atmosphere and predict the Earth’s future climate. The airline group has also been operating a central environmental database, used to collect and process information and data relevant to the environment for business decision-making.
The Lufthansa Group is continuously expanding its environmental efforts to achieve its impressive climate targets and make it as easy as possible for your next flight to be as eco-friendly as possible. Just by choosing Lufthansa Group’s carbon-neural offers, you can be a better traveler.
