Germany's flagship airline has been fined $4 million by the U.S. Department of Transportation after being accused of discriminating against a bunch of Jewish passengers.

The regulator said on Tuesday that Lufthansa banned 128 people wearing traditional Orthodox Jewish clothing from boarding a connecting flight in Germany en route from New York City to Budapest in May 2022.

“Due to the alleged misconduct of some passengers,” the DOT said, “Lufthansa employees treated them all as a single group and denied them boarding,” regardless that most of the passengers didn’t know one another and weren’t traveling together.

Some people within the group allegedly violating the airline's mask policy. A video of the incident on the time showed Lufthansa employees telling passengers that “everyone must pay for the mistakes of a few” after which defining “everyone” as “Jews from JFK.” At the time, German media reported that staff denied boarding to people they believed were Jewish because they wore skullcaps or sidelocks.

The penalty is the most important ever imposed by the DOT against an airline for a civil rights violation.

“No one should be discriminated against when traveling, and today’s action sends a clear signal to the airline industry that we are prepared to investigate and take action when passengers’ civil rights are violated,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in an announcement .

Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, Biden administration special envoy against anti-Semitism, said NBC News in 2022 that the small print of how the airline treated passengers were “unbelievable”.

“[When] When I first heard it, I said, “Oh, this have to be improper.” “Someone has to misreport this.” And then of course it turned out to be exactly right – and even worse than we thought,” she said.

In an announcement Tuesday, the airline said it cooperated fully with the DOT in conducting its investigation and worked with the American Jewish Committee following the incident.

“Through our ongoing collaboration, we have put together a unique training program in the aviation industry for our managers and employees to combat anti-Semitism and discrimination,” it said. “Lufthansa strives to be an ambassador of goodwill, tolerance, diversity and acceptance.”

Back then the carrier apologized for the incident and said there was “zero tolerance for racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination of any kind.”

Lipstadt said in 2022: “If an airline had done that, it would have been outrageous. But the terrible, terrible irony that came from the German national airline was outrageous.”

The German airline Lufthansa Group announced on Tuesday that it could impose an “environmental cost surcharge” on ticket prices this week, which could possibly be as high as 72 euros (77 dollars) on some flights.

“The surcharge is intended to cover part of the steadily increasing additional costs due to regulatory environmental requirements,” said Lufthansa. said in an announcementand refers to regulations of the European Union and the International Civil Aviation Organization.

The additional costs shall be levied on flights departing from any of the 27 European Union member states, in addition to the UK, Norway and Switzerland, Lufthansa said. All flights sold or operated by the Lufthansa Group, which incorporates airlines similar to Lufthansa, Eurowings, Swiss and Edelweiss Air, in addition to Austrian Airlines, are subject to the fee.

“The amount of the surcharge varies depending on the flight route and flight price and is between 1 euro and 72 euros,” Lufthansa said. Customers can see the precise amount when booking.

The fee shall be charged on all tickets issued from June 26 – Wednesday of this week – for flights departing from January 1, 2025, Lufthansa said.

Numerous regulations from institutions, including the EU, would increase costs for airlines, Lufthansa explained.

These include EU quotas for using sustainable aviation fuels. These are to return into force in 2025 and increase over time as much as 2050.

Sustainable aviation fuel is an alternative choice to fossil fuels and could be made out of products similar to used oils and fats, inedible plants and other waste materials. It can be produced in a process that captures carbon from the air.

According to the International Air Transport Association, sustainable aviation fuel could save around 65% of emissions reduction The aviation industry must achieve the goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050.

Lufthansa said on Tuesday that the quotas would “lead to additional costs amounting to billions in the future.”

The company also pointed to the EU, Switzerland and UK emissions trading systems as an element contributing to its rising environmental costs. These programs control and limit the quantity of emissions allowed, with the general cap designed to diminish over time to scale back emissions.

Finally, the climate protection agreement of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which also provides for a limitation of emissions, also played a task, in line with Lufthansa.

Lufthansa said it was investing heavily in technologies to make aviation more sustainable and support climate research.

“However, the airline group will not be able to bear the gradually increasing additional costs resulting from regulatory requirements alone in the coming years. Part of these costs expected for 2025 will now be covered by the new environmental cost surcharge,” the corporate said.