Lufthansa is to use fuel surcharges as its means of passing on the cost of participating in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), the airline has announced.

Aviation joined the ETS on 1 January. The scheme will provide airlines with certificates representing an average of 82% of their emissions between the base years of 2004 and 2006 free of charge in 2012. Carriers will have to buy 15% of the remaining certificates while 3% is reserved for new carriers. The percentage of certificates provided free in the future will be reduced.

Lufthansa reckons it will incur €130m in additional costs because of the ETS in 2012 and says it will pass on the additional costs to passengers in the form of a higher fuel surcharge. It says that the airline’s expansion in recent years means that it will actually need to buy at least 35% of its necessary certificates.

However, the airline said it would not be increasing its surcharge immediately, having already raised the fee for European and long-haul flights on 15 December by between €3 and €10.

Carsten Spohr, a member of Lufthansa’s executive board, said: “Climate change is a global challenge. This means we also need a global solution. The incorporation of airlines in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme means that European operators are now facing additional costs which will make flying within and via Europe more expensive for passengers. It will also distort competition and impact on the sustainability of the aviation industry if it proves impossible to implement with the competitive neutrality promised by policy makers. However, given the huge resistance at international level, it is unclear just how the situation will develop.”

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