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.
Amadeus, Europe’s leading global distribution system, is launching an initial public offering (IPO) despite unfavorable market conditions. The move, likely to happen in the first half of the year, is expected to raise €910 million (US$1.3 billion). Amadeus is majority-owned by private equity investors BC Partners and Cinven. The two together hold 52.8%, while Air France-KLM controls 23.14%, and Lufthansa and Iberia own 11.57% each. All the existing shareholders plan to keep more than half of their current stocks, an official said.
Lufthansa’s pilots say they will go on strike again. German pilot union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) announced on Monday that it has called its members to walk off their jobs on April 13 for four consecutive days.
Emirates and Qatar Airways are pushing aircraft manufacturers for quicker delivery and new models to accelerate their already impressive growth. Speaking to Aviation Week at the ITB travel fair here this month, Emirates President Tim Clark pointed out that the airline would likely buy a stretched version of the Airbus A380 if it became available. Qatar CEO Akbar al-Bakr wants aircraft on order to be delivered faster and is looking at adding more narrowbodies or large regional jets.
