What happened
Lufthansa Group is dropping the Green Fares name launched in 2023 and selling the same product as Impact Fares, after a March 2025 Cologne ruling found the advertising misleading. Deutsche Umwelthilfe won that ruling, which held the fares misled consumers about offsets and implied extra sustainable aviation fuel was used on their own flight. A July 2026 higher-court update upheld a core finding, including unclear timing of the extra fuel.
Each booking funds extra SAF used in group operations within 6 months of departure. European tickets size that fuel against 20% of estimated flight CO2 and send the remaining 80% to climate projects. Intercontinental tickets use a 10% SAF and 90% climate-project split. Extra SAF is not guaranteed on the passenger's own flight and may be used later elsewhere in the network.
Buyers still get extra Miles & More miles and status credit, plus more flexible rebooking. The product can no longer be sold as making the trip green. Weigh the Impact Fares premium against extra miles and flexibility, not against neutralizing the flight.
- Numbers
- 20%: SAF contribution versus estimated CO2 on European flights
- 80%: climate-project share of estimated CO2 on European flights
- 10%: SAF share of estimated CO2 on intercontinental flights
- 90%: climate-project share of estimated CO2 on intercontinental flights
- Links
- Announcement Lufthansa Group press release newsroom.lufthansagroup.com
- Takeaway
- Treat Impact Fares as a paid bundle of miles, flexibility and a network-wide SAF or climate contribution, not as a way to neutralize your own flight, and weigh the premium against those perks.