After piloting (no pun intended) its Green Fare concept on routes from Scandinavia last year, Austrian Airlines is now launching the option for customers to "fly more sustainably" throughout Europe. The Green Fare option will be available for both economy and business class on continental services and will also award passengers extra status miles, flexible rebooking options and other benefits.
By opting in for a Green Fare when booking, 20% of a traveler's individual CO2 contribution from the journey will be offset through the purchase of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The other 80% will be offset through more traditional mechanisms, supporting certified climate projects globally. The fares can be booked for short and medium-haul flights as Economy Green or Business Green.
When Simple Flying had a look around the Austrian Airlines website, a return "green" ticket from Stockholm to Vienna in economy was a little more than twice the price of a regular one, one month from the day of writing.
A "more sustainable" business class ticket was about 80% more expensive. One would imagine this will be an attractive choice for corporate travelers with ESG targets to meet but no corporate SAF program in place, given that they are awarded emission reduction certificates.
Airline needs passengers to help with sustainability targets
Austrian Airlines' Chief Commerical Officer, Michael Trestl, commented on the addition of SAF as an offsetting mechanism and presenting it to customers as an option already during the booking process,
"We have set ourselves ambitious targets. By 2030 we want to halve our net CO2 emissions compared to 2019 and by 2050 become carbon neutral. We can only achieve this goal together with our passengers. Every contribution brings us one step closer."
The Green Fares are available for all European as well as selected North African destinations on Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, Brussels Airlines, SWISS, Edelweiss, Eurowings Discover, and Air Dolomiti. Meanwhile, passengers who wish to offset their emissions without purchasing the full green fare can still do so, either through 100% SAF (although this would set you back potentially several times the original airfare), traditional offsets, or a combination of both.
Careful with SAF-related advertising
The trial with the fare began on flights from Scandinavia began in August last year. However, Austrian's social media channels have been pretty quiet about the launch of the new fare, which will complement the existing fare categories across the Lufthansa Group, of which the airline is a part. Potentially, the airline is cautious about drawing more complaints such as the one filed against it with the Austrian Advertising Council (AAC) in the summer of 2022.
The AAC deemed the flag carrier's advertising touting "100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)" for some flights (which is impossible given today's regulations unless utilizing a book and claim system) to be misleading in terms of carbon-neutral flying.
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Austrian Airlines
- IATA/ICAO Code:
- OS/AUA
- Airline Type:
- Full Service Carrier
- Hub(s):
- Vienna International Airport
- Year Founded:
- 1957
- Alliance:
- Star Alliance
- Airline Group:
- Lufthansa Group
- CEO:
- Annette Mann
- Country:
- Austria
- Region:
- Europe
- Loyalty Program:
- Miles & More
