Lufthansa Dropped the Word Green but Kept the Surcharge

Lufthansa Group has quietly retired a name it spent years promoting. On October 23, 2026, the Green Fare became the Impact Fare across Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines. The surcharge still exists, but the word green is gone from the label.

The backdrop is a ruling from the Regional Court of Cologne, which found that certain Lufthansa claims about passengers compensating for flight emissions were misleading. The case was brought by the German NGO Deutsche Umwelthilfe. The judgment is reported as not yet final, and the court did not itself order the fare renamed.

What the money buys is now spelled out by split. On European flights, 20 percent goes to sustainable aviation fuel added to group operations and 80 percent to climate projects outside Lufthansa’s own value chain. On intercontinental flights the split is 10 percent fuel and 90 percent external projects. The fuel is deployed within six months of booking, not on the specific flight you bought.

Lufthansa says more than five million passengers booked Green Fares before the change, a figure that is self-reported. For travelers weighing whether to tick the box, the practical lesson is to read what a fare actually funds rather than the label on it.

Sources: Air Traveler Club, Lufthansa Group Newsroom