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 Abu Dhabi government is allegedly in talks over buying a stake in Dubai’s Emirates airline, according to the London Sunday Times. The transaction could be part of a larger funding initiative in which oil-rich Abu Dhabi might support its smaller neighbor Dubai. Dubai’s economy is now largely independent from oil income. But its real estate and banking sectors – two of the three large growth sectors besides tourism – have been struggling recently as a result of the global financial crisis.
British Airways and Qantas are exploring “a potential merger via a dual-listed company structure,” BA confirmed yesterday. The airline reacted on a report in the Australian Financial Review which had reported on the possible combination on Tuesday. BA shares initially surged by 17% after the company published its statement and were up more than 12% in the afternoon. At this time, the Sydney stock exchange was already closed and Qantas announced a separate note for Wednesday morning.
Lufthansa is setting up a subsidiary airline in Italy, Lufthansa Italia. The carrier will get an initial six Airbus A319s and start operations early next year from its Milan Malpensa base. The airline will be fully owned by Lufthansa but will have its own air operator’s certificate (AOC). Lufthansa Italia will initially fly from Milan to Barcelona and Paris in February and then add Brussels, Budapest, Bucarest, Madrid, London and Lisbon in March.
