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.
The Dornier 228 new generation prototype made its first flight late last week ahead of a short three-month recertification program. The aircraft performed a one-hour flight from the company’s Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, site. The Do 228 NG is a modernized version of the original Dornier 228 19-seater that was in production until 1998. The program was officially discontinued after the 2002 bankruptcy of its former owner Fairchild Dornier. It was later bought by Ruag Aerospace Services and relaunched in 2008.
Aer Lingus saw short-haul traffic increase by 10% in the third quarter while the number of long-haul passengers declined by 13%. The airline said average fares dropped by 17.6%, but revenues were down only 9.7%. The airline is in the middle of a cost-cutting program and said on Monday that it would sell some surplus aircraft. Aer Lingus shares rose by more than 16% because the trading update was better than expected by most investors.
Leasing specialist AerCap recorded lower earnings in the third quarter, when net profit was down 31% to $39 million. AerCap says this is mainly due to lower maintenance revenues and lower asset sales compared to the third quarter of 2009. Revenues were down 30% to $212 million. But net spread, the difference between basic lease rents and interest expense excluding the impact from the mark-to-market of interest rate caps, was $114.6 million in third quarter 2009 compared to $93.3 million in the third quarter of 2008, an increase of 23%.
