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.
Brussels Airlines aims to establish Brussels as Star Alliance’s western European hub and the primary gateway to African destinations, the carrier’s CEO Bernard Gustin said Wednesday. The carrier plans to further develop its African network and is looking into destinations in North America and even Asia to further build its long-haul operation. “It’s written in the sky that one day we will do transatlantic flights,” Gustin says.
Contact Air is cutting 40 pilot and 40 cabin crew jobs as a result of Lufthansa’s decision to phase out all 50-seaters. The Stuttgart-based airline operates five ATR 42-500s in a wet-lease arrangement and under the Lufthansa Regional brand. Contact Air plans to close stations in Duesseldorf, Bremen, Munich and Berlin and wants to focus on its home base.
A Ryanair order for additional Boeing 737s is “highly unlikely to happen,” according to the airline’s CEO Michael O’Leary. The carrier and the manufacturer have been negotiating the order for up to 200 aircraft for months without reaching an agreement. O’Leary said Boeing still has until Dec. 17 to come up with a proposal acceptable to the airline. Ryanair’s next board meeting is scheduled on that day.
