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 plans to fly an Airbus A380 to Johannesburg, South Africa, on the aircraft's first long-haul commercial service. The airline will operate the flight on June 5 as a special charter to bring Germany's national soccer team to the World Cup in South Africa. The aircraft will be flown by Lufthansa's head of flight operations, Juergen Raps. The airline will take delivery of its first A380 on May 19. Airbus on April 7 sent one of its test aircraft to Frankfurt for ground-handling checks.
The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) criticized the European Union’s blacklist of unsafe airlines and demands more European investment in African aviation safety. The main achievement of publishing the blacklist has been “to undermine international confidence in the African airline industry,” says AFRAA Secretary General Nick Fadugba. “The ultimate beneficiaries” are European airlines that dominate international travel to Africa, he adds.
Lufthansa’s pilots on April 7 called off a four-day strike that was planned to start April 13. In return, the airline agreed not to sue the Vereinigung Cockpit pilots union for damages based on the Feb. 22 strike, which the company considered illegal.
