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.
German leisure carriers Air Berlin and TUIfly are in advanced merger negotiations, industry sources said yesterday. The two carriers are understood to be undergoing due diligence by external auditors at this moment. Details of the planned combination — which is likely to take place under the Air Berlin roof — have yet to emerge and neither company is prepared to comment officially.
Air Berlin experienced another month of decreasing traffic in September. The airline stated yesterday that the number of passengers carried was down 3.1%. The load factor also deteriorated by 1.7 points and stood at 82.5%. Air Berlin pointed out, however, that yields were up 12.1% in the period. The airline has announced deep capacity cuts for the winter to achieve a financial turnaround.
