Strategy and management Keeping people, the environment and mobility in balance Environmental care has been one of the Lufthansa Group’s primary corporate goals for many years. The Company has been working resolutely for a long time to further reduce the effects of its business activities on the environment – and thus on the Earth’s climate – and to use resources ever more efficiently.
The worldwide connections provided by air transport are a central condition for economic growth, employment and individual mobility. For 2015 alone, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecasts an increase in passenger numbers of 7 percent worldwide (2014: 5.9 percent). Despite these significant growth rates, air transport’s share in worldwide CO2 emissions has actually been declining for years. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), this value reached 2.42 percent in 2011 (2000: 2.81 percent).
The Lufthansa Group aims to make mobility as environmentally friendly as possible for its customers – now and in the future.
The Lufthansa Group’s goals and strategy The Group has a clear strategy to further limit the environmental effects of flying and to make traffic growth as environmentally compatible as possible. As long ago as 2008, the Lufthansa Group adopted a strategic environmental program (see page 36). In addition, it supports the aviation industry’s goals of improving fuel efficiency by 1.5 percent on average per year until 2020 and to make all transport growth CO2-neutral thereafter. By 2050, net CO2 emissions are to be cut by 50 percent, compared with 2005. The generally acknowledged basis for this approach is the aviation industry’s established fourpillar strategy for climate protection (see graphic 43). Central fields of action in climate and environmental protection Passenger and freight transport is the Lufthansa Group’s core business. Fuel efficiency in particular is of fundamental importance for the Company’s economic and ecological success and therefore a central field of action. The efficient use of kerosene not only reduces costs, but also improves flight operations’ ecological balance sheet. The most significant advances can be achieved by operating aircraft with the latest technology. For this reason, the Group is due at current order status to take delivery of 272 new aircraft by 2025 – all characterized by low fuel burn (see page 28, Fleet development). In May 2013, the Lufthansa Group set up a Company-wide department which has since coordinated all activities concerning fuel efficiency. A significant potential for improving the environmental balance sheet is also opened up by alternative fuels low in CO2 emissions, to whose development and testing the Group has shown an ongoing commitment (see page 43). Another important field of action is active noise protection. Here, the Lufthansa Group counts on investments in new aircraft and retrofitting the existing fleet with noisereducing technologies. Moreover, the Group cooperates with partners in industry, public administrations, universities and research institutions to identify noise sources and develop perceptible noise-reduction measures, such as the quietest approach and takeoff procedures possible (see page 54). Energy and resource management in its ground operations and catering processes is also of great importance for the Lufthansa Group. The key element in ground operations is the research into and operation of electro-mobility for taxiing and towing of aircraft (see page 50). Building management as well must satisfy clear, resourceefficient requirements when modernizing existing buildings or planning new ones. LSG Sky Chefs, the Group’s catering specialist, has set itself ambitious goals for avoiding waste and using the resources needed as efficiently as possible. Moreover, the Lufthansa Group cooperates with scientific and research institutions to further optimize environmental protection on the basis of sound data and facts. The Company has been actively involved in noise and climate research for many years (see page 57). It thus participates in research projects, such as those concerning the use of alternative fuels and propulsion systems as well as aerodynamics.
60 years of Lufthansa – 60 years of progress Since the start of flight operations by the new Lufthansa on April 1, 1955, aviation has achieved significant advances in climate and environmental responsibility thanks to technological quantum leaps. For example, highly efficient jet engines have significantly cut kerosene consumption in comparison with earlier years. While aircraft in the 1970s needed about 12 liters of kerosene to carry one passenger over a distance of 100 kilometers, the Lufthansa Group’s fleet needed a mere 3.84 liters on average for the same performance in 2014 (see page 39, Fuel consumption and emissions). At the same time, today’s aircraft are 80 percent quieter than those of 60 years ago.
Over the past decades, Lufthansa has repeatedly been involved in the development of new aircraft models and has also contributed to new insights and perceptible improvements in active noise protection as a result of its commitment to research (see from page 8, Balance 2014, More quietly into the future). Important advances from new materials and technical improvements were also achieved in the area of reducing aircraft weight. In February 2015, the U.S. trade publication Air Transport World awarded Lufthansa the title “Eco-Airline of the Year” for the second time in three years for the Company’s commitment to climate and environmental protection. The reasoning: “The Lufthansa Group works not only for the most stringent goals worldwide for environmentally-conscious air transport, but it also invests a lot of time, money and effort in efficiencyimproving measures.”
Strategic environmental program 2020 The Lufthansa Group adopted guidelines for environmental protection as long ago as 1996 and thus assumed the role of an industry pacesetter. In 2008, the Group set up a strategic environmental program, aimed at achieving further progress in climate and environmental responsibility until 2020. Looking back shows that the Lufthansa Group has made progress in all areas. For example, the CO2 emissions of the Lufthansa Group’s aircraft per passenger and 100 kilometers fell by 12.3 percent between 2006 and 2014. Simultaneously, the Group phased 203 more efficient and quieter aircraft into the fleet between 2006 and 2014, while decommissioning 145 older aircraft over the same period. An overview of the Lufthansa Group’s environmental program can be found on the next double page.