Lufthansa renames Green Fare to Impact Fare as airline contrail trials expand

On 23 October 2026, the Lufthansa Group announced it will rename Green Fare to Impact Fare. The group says the new name reflects “new regulatory requirements for environmental communication”. The fare structure does not change.

How the fare works

For each Impact Fare booking, the group deploys additional sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in its operations within six months of departure. For flights within Europe, the SAF volume is 20% of the flight’s estimated CO₂ emissions. A contribution to climate protection projects outside the company’s value chain is based on the remaining 80%. On intercontinental flights, the split is 10% and 90%. Passengers also receive additional Miles and Points and, depending on booking class and destination, more flexible or fee-free rebooking. The fare is available in all travel classes. Lufthansa says more than five million passengers have booked it since 2023.

Regulation

The release does not name the regulation. The timing matches the EU Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (2024/825), which applies from 27 September 2026 with no transition period. The directive prohibits generic environmental claims such as “green”, “eco-friendly” or “climate friendly” unless the trader can demonstrate recognised excellent environmental performance. The European Commission’s Q&A on the directive, published in September 2026, says brand and product names are within scope. According to the Commission, a term such as “green” in a product name counts as an environmental claim if it is likely to create an environmental association for the average consumer.

“Impact” is still a broad term. According to Bird & Bird, whether a term counts as generic depends on context, and a claim accompanied by sufficient explanation may not be treated as generic. Lufthansa’s release sets out the SAF and project percentages in detail, which suggests the explanation is meant to support the name.

Naming history

Lufthansa piloted the fare in August 2022 for bookings from Denmark, Sweden and Norway. At the time, the group described it as a way to “book carbon neutral travel”, and Christina Foerster, then the board member responsible for brand and sustainability, said: “We want to make CO2-neutral flying a matter of course in the future.” The Green Fare name was used during the wider rollout in February 2023 and was later extended to long-haul flights. On 14 May 2026, ITA Airways, in which Lufthansa holds a stake, introduced Green Fares with the same split between climate projects and SAF, as part of harmonising its customer experience with the Lufthansa Group.

Over four years, the product name has moved from “carbon neutral” to “green” to “impact”, with each version making a narrower claim about the flight itself.

Contrails

The Impact Fare formula is based only on CO₂. In the same week, Bill Gates posted on LinkedIn about Contrails.org, the non-profit linked to Breakthrough Energy, and its work with American Airlines and Google Research on contrail avoidance. So far, contrail work at airlines has been limited to operational trials and research.

American Airlines and Google. In a first pilot of about 70 flights, contrail avoidance cut contrails by 54%, with around 2% more fuel burned on the flights that attempted avoidance. A second trial, which integrated Google’s forecasts into American’s flight-planning software through Flightkeys, covered 2,400 transatlantic flights. Half were offered an avoidance route. The 112 flights that flew it formed 62% fewer contrails than the control group, and the researchers estimated a 69% reduction in contrail warming from those flights. Google estimates the fuel increase across American’s whole fleet at 0.3%. In March 2026, American has said it is not yet making contrail avoidance a routine part of its flight planning.

Cathay Pacific and Google. Announced on 7 September 2026, this is Google’s first airline partnership in Asia-Pacific on contrail avoidance. Trials started in late 2025. More than 80 of over 100 targeted flights flew avoidance routes; others were excluded by airspace and payload restrictions. Google estimates a 40% reduction in the contrail-warming impact of those flights. Cathay says the Hong Kong–Singapore corridor accounted for more than half of the trial’s climate impact. A second phase, with Contrails.org, covers Cathay’s Asian and transpacific network, including ultra-long-haul flights. Cathay cites research putting persistent contrails at around one-third of aviation’s total climate impact.

UK Operation Blueskies. Launched on 18 August 2026, this is a £5 million, 30-month airspace-scale trial. The UK government pays more than half. The consortium includes Google, NATS, the Met Office, Contrails.org, Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge. It covers airspace including Shanwick, which the consortium says accounts for around 5 per cent of global contrail warming.

None of the announcements describes a product for passengers or corporate customers. In the American trial, about 1,200 flights were offered an avoidance route, and 112 flew it. In the Cathay trial, some targeted flights were excluded because of airspace and payload restrictions.