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.
SAS Group is phasing out its remaining MD-90-30s, all eight of which are leased to an undisclosed U.S. airline for five years. The phase-out will start in this quarter and will be completed in second quarter 2011. SAS says the transaction “fits very will into SAS’ initiative to simplify and standardize its fleet.” According to the airline, the MD-90s are 13.5 years old on average. Of its 239 aircraft, 145 are flown by Scandinavian Airlines. The carrier placed the order for its eight MD-90s in 1992, and the first aicraft arrived in 1996.
Air Berlin continued to make losses in the second quarter, partly because of the effects of the airspace closure after the April volcanic eruption in Iceland. The airline posted a €56.9 million ($72 million) net loss in the seasonally strong quarter despite an €11 million extraordinary tax gain. Air Berlin said previously that the airspace closure had a €40 million effect on its bottom line.
Mergers and takeovers between airlines based on different continents will be unavoidable in the foreseeable future, Stefan Lauer, Lufthansa’s executive board member, human resources and group airlines, believes. Intercontinental mergers will happen for the same reasons as consolidation within countries or regions. But as consolidation gains momentum, airlines and alliances are dependent on fewer, but bigger partners that they can hardly afford to lose, he argues.
