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.
It is increasingly a race against time for several of central Europe’s mid-sized carriers as they try to restructure before falling victim to the sharp economic downturn that has hit their region particularly severely. From Poland to Austria, airlines are leaving no stone unturned, but most in the region are suffering double-digit drops in passenger numbers compared with 2008 levels. And effecting a turnaround isn’t easy.
Turkish scheduled and leisure carrier Sun Express ordered six Boeing 737-800s. The aircraft are to be delivered before the end of 2010 and will be used for growth. At the same time, the airline will take delivery of two more 737-800s on lease that will replace two 757-200s, growing the fleet from 18 to 25 aircraft. Sun Express is mainly expanding its domestic scheduled network in Turkey. Sun Express is owned 50% each by Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines.
Austrian is taking more measures to stop its losses and will significantly reduce its 50-seater regional fleet. The airline will phase out all 10 CRJ-200s by the summer of 2010 and also cut up to four of 10 Bombardier Q300s.
