Lufthansa Group has renamed its controversial "Green Fare" as "Impact Fare", saying the change reflects regulatory requirements for environmental communications. The fare allows passengers to contribute towards the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and climate protection projects.

For every Impact Fare booking, the group will use an additional amount of SAF in its flight operations within six months of departure, the group said in a statement on October 23, 2026.

On European flights, the SAF contribution is based on 20% of estimated flight-related CO2 emissions, with a further contribution to climate protection projects calculated against the remaining 80%. On intercontinental flights, the split is 10% for SAF and 90% for climate protection projects.

The fare is available across all travel classes on Lufthansa Group airlines. The group said that more than five million passengers had booked Green Fares since their introduction in 2023.

Greenwashing case

The rebranding comes after the Higher Regional Court of Cologne on July 8, 2026, upheld a ruling that prohibited Lufthansa from advertising that passengers could reduce their flight-related carbon emissions through the use of SAF without clearly explaining when the fuel would be used.

The case was brought by German environmental action group Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), which argued that Lufthansa's advertising could mislead consumers into believing that paying an additional charge would directly reduce emissions from their specific flight. The court found that the airline had failed to clearly disclose that the SAF would be used within six months of purchase.

The decision partially upheld a March 2025 ruling by the Regional Court of Cologne (docket Az. 84 O 29/24) in DUH's favour.

DUH also secured a ruling in the same court against Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings (EW, Düsseldorf) in a similar case at the end of 2024 (docket Az: 6 U 45/24).