Within their efforts to make flying more sustainable, Brussels Airlines and Austrian Airlines now offer their customers the option to neutralize the carbon emissions of their flights in the same transaction as their booking, with a single click. After flight selection, passengers can choose one of three options to fly CO2-neutral. Lufthansa was the first carrier of the group to offer the options at the beginning of the month.
The first option is to use sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) that is currently produced from residual biogenic materials and directly reduces CO2 emissions. A second option is to support high quality carbon offset projects run by the non-profit organization myclimate, in the case of Brussels Airlines, or Climate Austria, in the case of Austrian Airlines. These promote measurable climate protection by not only reducing CO2 but also locally improving the quality of life and biodiversity. The third option is a combination of the first two.
What is new is that these options can now be selected while booking, making it more convenient and attractive for the customer. Payment is made when buying the flight ticket, thus making CO2-neutral flying for passengers significantly easier. Furthermore, Brussels Airlines encourages these options by awarding additional status and award miles to Miles&More members.
By integrating the options for carbon-neutral flying into the booking process, it will be easier for our guests to contribute to sustainable travel and to discover the world in a carbon-neutral way. We are the only Austrian airline using sustainable aviation fuel in flight operations to make carbon-neutral flying possible for our guests.
Michael Trestl, Austrian Airlines CCO
“We want to make it as easy as possible for our customers to neutralize the CO2 emissions of their flight. So far, less than one percent of online bookers used to take advantage of our long-standing option to fly carbon neutral. With the integration of the options in the booking transaction directly, I am sure that we will convince significantly more of our passengers to fly CO2-neutral and hereby making a contribution to more sustainable air travel”, said the CEO of Brussels Airlines Peter Gerber. And he was right. Since launching the option on its website last Thursday, Brussels Airlines has seen a preliminary conversion rate of nearly 7%, above its initial target of 5%.
The Lufthansa Group is making effective climate protection a major goal with a clearly defined path toward carbon-neutrality: compared to 2019, Lufthansa Group plans to half its net-carbon emissions by 2030, and achieve net-zero by 2050. This will be done by continually optimizing flight operations, using SAF, and using innovative procedures that make flights more environmental-friendly. But first and foremost, the largest progress will be made through accelerating fleet modernization. To that end, Brussels Airlines will welcome three brand new A320neo aircraft to its fleet in 2023, with 30% less CO2 emissions and fuel use per seat, compared to the A319 aircraft they will replace.
