‘Carbon Neutral’ Flights? AUA under Fire for Greenwashing

Nov 3, 2023 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

Sustainability is a valuable marketing tool, but it should not be taken too far. Austrian Airlines’ “carbon neutral flights” ads overstepped the bounds, turning greenwashing into unfair competition.

In the case at hand, Austrian Airlines (AUA) promoted flights to Venice, Italy, by using advertising statements such as “CO2-neutral flights? There’s no art in that!” and “Book 100% SAF and get Biennale & CAT tickets for free.” The Austrian Association for Consumer Information (Verein für Konsumenteninformation, hereinafter VKI) considered this advertising to be misleading greenwashing (a misleading business practice within the scope of Section 2 Abs 1 Z 2 UWG, Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb, Austrian Unfair Competition Act) and got court justice by the Regional Court of Korneuburg.

In order to actually cover the costs of CO2 reduction, a surcharge of more than 50% would have to be paid by passengers. Austrian Airlines only advertised this fare rate during the booking process by claiming that “100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) reduces CO2 emissions immediately”.

Produced in Austria from waste oil, Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is fully interchangeable with paraffin. The amount of CO2 emitted during the combustion of SAF is equal to the amount of CO2 that has previously been removed from the atmosphere by the extraction of the raw materials. Over its entire lifecycle, SAF reduces CO2 emissions by around 80% when transport and production are taken into account. It is not (currently) technically possible to fly CO2-neutrally with SAF.

For the reasons set out below, the Regional Court of Korneuburg considered this advertising to be a misleading commercial practice:

Advertising statements that use environmental phraseology must meet strict standards. Such phrasing may only be used in advertising if claims are clearly substantiated and if the deceiving of audiences can be ruled out.

AUA’s advertising statements, on the other hand, suggested that a flight is CO2-neutral due to the use of 100% SAF. This was suggested by conspicuously highlighting ‘100% SAF’. The fact that Austrian Airlines currently uses a fuel blend with only 0.4% SAF was not stated anywhere. In addition, there was no mention of the fact that the CO2 produced will (for the most part) be offset by the addition of SAF on future flights. This information is only available on the airline’s website in various sub-pages, which is not sufficient.

LG Korneuburg 29 Cg 62/22z-16 (29 June 2023)