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international flights from EU airports. This would once again make international conflicts inevitable, which would not be to the detri- ment of European airlines alone. One thing should be clear here: Climate protection is a joint, worldwide responsibility. Only on that basis can an acceptable solution be found, particularly when the share of traffic taking place outside European airspace is growing rapidly. Besides emissions trading, the national avia- tion tax, which was introduced in Germany in 2011, continues to be a burden, costing the Lufthansa Group more than EUR 353 million in 2013. This makes the tax nearly one and a half times as much as the net income from operations of Lufthansa and Germanwings combined (EUR 265 million). This is a consid- erable sum, one that we are not able to invest in modern aircraft or new, environmentally compatible technologies. It is time for policy- makers to devise a regime of competitive and fair terms for the industry. Ú Continuing to optimize processes in the future In the future, a new flight data analysis tool called OMEGA (Ops Monitor and Efficiency Gap Analyzer), which is currently under devel- opment, will enable the Lufthansa Group to analyze current fuel consumption with even greater accuracy and use the results of the analysis to identify further ways in which to optimize processes. The aim is to establish the use of a software application during flight operations that com- pares planned, actual, and optimum values during the various phases of flight. OMEGA will enable the airlines to improve the effi- ciency of future flights using the data thus gathered during flight operations. ß Ú Economic measures The fourth pillar of the four-pillar model aims to bring about systems and measures that operate on the basis of economic incentives. The Lufthansa Group supports the institution of a globally valid, market-based, and compe- tition-neutral system of climate change taxation. In October 2013 the UN International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) took the decision to develop a globally valid system for climate change levies by 2016. This system is sched- uled to enter into force in 2020—an outcome that countries and the industry had been working together to achieve for years. Thus the aviation industry has been a pioneer in the movement towards a global convention on climate change. Not long after the ICAO decision, however, the European Commission launched yet another competition-distorting solution, planned for the period from 2013 to 2020, with a decision to limit emissions trading for air travel to flights within European airspace until 2016. While this has averted an interna- tional conflict for the time being, the EU has thereby locked in place competitive disadvan- tages for European Airlines. Lufthansa, Air France, and British Airways must continue paying for emissions trading for their intra- European feeder flights, while competitors with hubs outside the EU, such as Istanbul, Doha, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai, are able to transport travelers from Europe without incur- ring additional costs. The Lufthansa Group’s costs for intra-European emissions trading are in the mid-eight-figure range every year. Should the ICAO fail to propose a solution for a global system by 2016, the EU will once again be expanding emissions trading to all operation in 2013 and will be tested initially on Lufthansa’s long-haul fleet. A similar ver- sion of the application, which has been devel- oped by the Berlin-based software producer PACE, is already being used successfully by Lufthansa CityLine. Engine cleaning to reduce kerosene consumption Clean engines are more thermally efficient and consume less kerosene. To maintain performance, we regularly clean our aircraft engines to remove contaminants such as dust, pollen, or salt. Under the Cyclean 2.0 program, experts from Lufthansa Technik and the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences are investigating how the cleaning process can be made even more economical and environmentally friendly. They have come up with a promising idea: Instead of using water, engine washing could be accomplished in the near future by using CO2 dry ice pellets. This innovative method would also save large quantities of water, and it could be used even in the winter. A new index helps save costs The Strategic Cost Index is a successful example of a measure designed to increase fuel efficiency. This index indicates the overall costs incurred for each flight taking into account the load, speed, and item costs for crew, MRO, and engines. By using the “new” Strategic Cost Index, flight crews are able to calculate this value on a significantly more precise basis. This is because the calculations now include not only time costs (crew and MRO) but also current fuel costs. Sustainability Report Balance // Issue 2014 // Lufthansa Group // 59