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.
SAS Group yesterday confirmed for the first time that it is in talks “about a possible structural solution” for the airline. The company stated that it is “in the process of evaluating various structural possibilities for the Group.” According to industry sources and as reported earlier by The DAILY, SAS is in advanced negotiations to be taken over by Lufthansa.
Alitalia moved one major step closer to its final demise, after talks between investment consortium Compania Aerea Italiana (CAI) and the nine trade unions involved with the carrier collapsed on Friday. “After seven days of meetings, there aren’t conditions to continue negotiations,” the investment group led by Roberto Colaninno said in a statement on Friday afternoon. “The unions don’t seem to realize what a dramatic situation Alitalia is in,” CAI said.
U.K. charter operator XL Leisure Group grounded all flights on Friday, after the company was taken over by outside administrators. About 90,000 passengers are stranded worldwide, and another 200,000 have firm bookings on XL Airways, the U.K. Civil Aviation Administration said in a statement. U.K. airlines, such as BMI or Virgin Atlantic, said they would fly as many XL passengers as possible.
