He started his journalism career in 1992 as a freelance writer for Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany’s largest daily national newspaper and soon specialised in air transport. Jens joined Aviation Week and Aviation Daily in 2000 as one of the European correspondents. Later his role was expanded to cover international air transport. In 2013 he was named Managing Editor Commercial.
Jens frequently appears on radio and TV to comment on industry matters. In 2003, he received the Hugo Junkers Award of the German aviation press for his coverage of Fairchild Dornier’s bankruptcy. He was named the country’s top travel and air transport writer by the Travel Industry Club three times. Jens graduated from the Munich School of Journalism.
Lufthansa revised downwards its capacity plans for next year, given the current market uncertainties. The airline plans to grow capacity by 3%, down from 9% as originally envisaged. The move comes after forward bookings proved to be increasingly volatile but are far from showing a fundamental decline. The airline plans to accelerate the retirement of 38 aircraft to 2012. The initiative includes nine long-haul aircraft (Boeing 747-400s and Airbus A340-300s) and 29 narrowbodies.
Lufthansa CEO Christoph Franz has not yet given up on efforts to add the newly emerging LATAM Airlines group to Star Alliance. “We hope we can persuade LATAM that Star is the best alliance for them,” Franz said yesterday. He said that given the recent ruling by Chile’s antitrust authority, a quick decision is necessary.
The future of Shenzhen-based Jade Cargo International looks ever more uncertain. Lufthansa’s CEO Christoph Franz said yesterday that the group has to review its shareholdings under the aspect of value creation and he mentioned the cargo joint venture specifically. Franz said, “We are trying to find a stable partner [for Jade] after the old partner has shown not to be suitable.” He confirmed that negotiations are taking place without revealing more details.
