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.
Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport AG expects a slow traffic recovery this year. The company predicts demand to improve by 1%-2% in 2010 after traffic dropped by 4.7% in 2009. CEO Stefan Schulte said that only a significant upturn in the global economy would lead Fraport to revise the forecast.
SAS CEO Mats Jansson expects his airline to be sold eventually, saying being part of a larger organization has its advantages. “We will be part of a structural change once the crisis is over,” Jansson said in an interview with Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter. Lufthansa stopped short of buying SAS in 2008 mainly because of the continuing losses at SAS affiliate Spanair. SAS has since sold Spanair and started another cost-cutting initiative. It also announced a capital increase last month to bolster finances until the economy comes back.
Air Berlin and its subsidiary LTU face so-called “warning strikes” in the next few days, as pilot union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) tries to increase pressure on management in the ongoing negotiations.
