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.
Air Arabia experienced a strong growth in revenues and a much- improved load factor in the first quarter, but its profit dropped mainly as a result of the higher fuel prices and the unstable political situation in the Middle East. The UAE-based airline recorded revenues of 513 million dirhams ($140 million), up 6% from last year, but its profit declined by 14% to 42.7 million dirhams ($11.62 million). The result was slightly worse than expected by analysts.
Goodyear has placed an order for three Zeppelin NT airships in a deal worth €14.5 million ($21 million) per unit. The airships will replace three blimps over the course of the next six years. They will be based in Ohio, Florida and California and used for advertising purposes. The order is the biggest ever for the Friedrichshafen, Germany-based company, which restarted building airships in 1997. Major components will be built in Friedrichshafen, but will be shipped to Akron, Ohio, for final assembly.
International air traffic fell by 0.3% in March compared with February as a result of the Japanese tsunami and political unrest in the Middle East, according to figures released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). “The profile of the recovery in air transport sharply decelerated in March,” IATA Director General and CEO Giovanni Bisignani says. “The global industry lost two percentage points of demand as a result of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).”
