Virgin Atlantic to introduce green levy in 2025

In 2025, Virgin Atlantic will begin adding a "green levy" to airfares to help cover the cost of using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

"Prices will have to go up to account for the fact that flying with [SAF] in greater and greater volumes is materially more expensive," said Shai Weiss, chief executive officer of Virgin Atlantic, in a recent interview with the British daily newspaper The Telegraph.

The airline joins a growing number of carriers who have recently introduced environmental surcharges, including Lufthansa, Swiss and other airlines within the Lufthansa Group. Beginning Jan. 1, 2025, passengers on these lines can expect to be charged anywhere between 1 and 72 euros (around $1 to $78) on flights departing the EU, U.K., Norway and Switzerland.

Virgin has yet to reveal exact pricing for the surcharge, though there's speculation that it would cost around 40 British pounds (roughly $52) per flight. It’s currently expected that the airline will begin rolling out that charge across some routes within the next 18 months, and it will be fully in effect across all routes by 2030.

Flyers will likely see even more environmental surcharges across the industry in the coming years as more airlines begin using SAF, following increased pressure from sustainability advocates and governments.

The EU has challenged airlines flying within its territory to use at least 2% SAF in their jet fuel starting in 2025. That amount should increase incrementally, too: The amount should be 6% in 2030, 20% by 2035 and 70% by 2050. Similarly, the U.K. mandated that airlines use a minimum of 2% SAF in their planes by 2035 and 10% by 2050.

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However, those goals are actually lower than the ones self-set by some global airlines, including British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas. By 2030, these companies hope to use 5% to 10% SAF in their flights.

Bottom line

More companies are embracing SAF to help reduce carbon emissions, and that's certainly good for the environment. One arguable downside, though, is that this will inevitably hit travelers in the pocket and result in increased fares as airlines aim to use more SAF in the future. In the long term, however, the movement toward SAF helps in the fight against climate change.