Lufthansa Group, Airbus collaborate for business travel with SAF

Photo: Lufthansa Group

The Lufthansa Group announced June 18 that it has entered into an agreement with Airbus in the field of more sustainable business travel.

Since June 1, the “Sustainable Corporate Value Fare” has been used by Airbus for all Lufthansa flights taken by its employees within Germany.

This Lufthansa Group business fare enables offsetting of parts of the calculated CO2 emissions through the subsequent use of sustainable aviation fuel in future flight operations.

“Together with our customers and strong partners from the industry, we strive towards greater sustainability,” said Dieter Vranckx, the chief commercial officer for Lufthansa Group. “I am particularly pleased and thankful that our longstanding partner Airbus has opted for a corporate fare with SAF, demonstrating its leading role also in the field of sustainability. For many companies and their employees, sustainability is becoming an increasingly important factor in travel decisions. As a leading airline group, we are the partner of choice for companies in achieving their goals with tailor-made solutions.”

Raphael Duflos, Airbus’ vice president of corporate-services procurement, added, “We have been working in close cooperation with Lufthansa Group since early 2024 to customize their ‘Sustainable Corporate Value Fare’ to meet the specific needs of Airbus travelers. They have helped us to create a meaningful offer incorporating sustainable aviation fuels, starting in the German domestic market. We are confident that its ‘Sustainable Corporate Value Fare’ is going to be successful across the business-travel ecosystem.”

The Lufthansa Group offers several special fares for corporate customers: With the “Sustainable Corporate Value Fare,” business customers can offset up to 30 percent of the CO2 emissions calculated for their individual flight through the use of SAF in flight operations.

The Lufthansa Group also offers companies the opportunity to invest in larger quantities of SAF through SAF bulk deals.

“There is no refueling of individual flights with pure SAF,” Lufthansa Group stated. “As a so-called drop-in fuel, SAF is compatible with fossil kerosene and can be blended with it without any problems. Before being transported to the airport, SAF is blended with fossil jet fuel or produced in a process known as coprocessing (joint processing of biogenic residues with fossil oil) and then fed into the airport infrastructure. The Lufthansa Group ensures that the amount of SAF required to offset individual CO2 emissions is fed into the Lufthansa Group’s flight operations within six months of purchase. Over its entire lifecycle, the SAF from biogenic residues used by the Lufthansa Group has a CO2 footprint that is around 80 percent lower than that of conventional kerosene made from fossil crude oil.”

The Lufthansa Group said it has been working on sustainable transformation in aviation for many years and offers companies a wide range of customized options for more sustainable flying.