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.
Despite strong second-quarter results, the Lufthansa Group posted an operating loss of €171 million ($224 million) and a net loss of €104 million for the first six months of 2010. In the first half of last year, the company had an operating profit of €8 million but a net loss of €178 million. Revenues in the first six months increased 23.5% to €12.6 billion, partly because the group consolidated BMI and Austrian Airlines. CFO Stephan Gemkow expects a significantly higher profit for the full year than in 2009, when Lufthansa achieved a €103 million profit.
Shanghai Airlines will leave the Star Alliance by the end of October, ending months of speculation over the carrier’s future. Star, which confirmed the move in a statement on its website, said the decision was due to Shanghai’s recent merger with China Eastern. The bigger one of the two Shanghai-based carriers in April decided to join the competing SkyTeam alliance and is expected to become a member in 2011.
Air Berlin is looking at opportunities to grow its long-haul business following the decision to join the Oneworld alliance, but is taking a cautious approach toward expansion. Germany’s second-largest airline on Tuesday was invited officially to join Oneworld at a ceremony in Berlin. The process is expected to be completed by early 2012, but ahead of this the airline plans to introduce bilateral cooperation agreements with American Airlines, British Airways and Finnair.
