Airbus and Lufthansa against climate criticism: “Technology must replace ideology”

Guillaume Faury, head of European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, defends himself against criticism of aviation’s environmental pollution. “There are interest groups fighting aviation,” he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in a joint interview with Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr.

In the case of railways, for example, only the marginal part of the emissions from train journeys is considered, not the construction of the rail network. “I also like to travel by train. But for the routes where the journey is more efficient, I want the right to travel,” says Furey. “Technology must replace ideology,” adds Spohr, President of Lufthansa.

“No one should lose sight of the fact that flying remains a cheap, efficient and safe way to get from A to B,” says Airbus Chairman Fury. “It’s cheaper than traveling 1,000 kilometers by train or car.”

However, the Lufthansa boss does not expect prices to go down. “We should also not forget that investing in more climate-friendly aviation leads to higher prices – because of new aircraft and new fuel, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF),” says Spoor. This costs “much more than fossil kerosene, currently at least four to five times as much,” and air traffic infrastructure fees have “increased dramatically.”

From the Lufthansa chief’s point of view, it is uncertain whether there will be enough SAF available to meet future EU blending requirements. “I seriously doubt it will be enough for everyone,” says Spoor. “Large investments with state support are necessary” in the EU, because most of the available SAF currently relies on bio-waste.

But these are “hardly scalable”. That’s why you need kerosene from renewable energy. “Governments in Europe are advised to look at the current efforts in the United States, for example,” Spohr says. The way the US is going is costing taxpayers money, says Furey, the Airbus boss.

The A380 is not new

Existing supply bottlenecks in aircraft production are likely to persist. “The bottlenecks will improve a little bit, but they will remain in 2023,” says Fury. And it is unlikely to continue until 2024. In view of the bottlenecks, Lufthansa has reactivated the Airbus A380.

When asked how long the model would be in service, CEO Spohr said, “Certainly a few years, but the number will obviously be in the single digits.”

The head of Airbus rejected Emirates’ efforts to obtain a new version of the A380. In terms of efficiency, the new A350 outperforms both the Boeing 747 and A380. “That’s why our focus is on that and the next generation of medium-range aircraft,” says Fury.