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.
Eurowings majority owner Albrecht Knauf plans to sell the majority of the airline to Lufthansa later this year, industry sources told The DAILY. Knauf currently has a 51% stake in the airline, with Lufthansa controlling 49%. The decision increases the pressure on Lufthansa to make work a broader merger that it has been negotiating for months. The company would like to merge Eurowings and Germanwings with TUI’s TUIfly airline operation plus Thomas Cook’s Condor.
Lufthansa is the first airline officially to confirm its interest in acquiring financially struggling Austrian Airlines. The German carrier said it has registered with investment bank Merrill Lynch, which is in charge of the sale process. Lufthansa requested the sale prospectus. According to reports, six parties have contacted Merrill Lynch before the deadline expired on Sunday at midnight.
