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.
Austrian’s major shareholder ÖIAG is understood to have hired Merrill Lynch to manage the sale of the unprofitable airline. Austrian’s board of directors is scheduled to meet before month’s end to evaluate Boston Consulting’s recommendations for strategic options. Insiders say Austrian can really only approach Lufthansa because exit costs from the Star Alliance and a bilateral partnership with Lufthansa would be prohibitively high. But Air France-KLM is seen as another potential bidder.
Etihad Airways carried 43% more passengers in the first five months of the year. The airline said it is on track to reach its target of 6 million passengers in 2008, after having carried 2.8 million up to June. Etihad reached a load factor of 73%. The airline will take delivery of another seven aircraft this year and operate 45 by the end of 2008.
Iberia and ST Aerospace officially set up a 50:50 joint venture yesterday that focuses on Airbus aircraft landing gear maintentance. The new company, Madrid Aerospace Service, will offer services for Airbus A320s, A330s and A340s and broaden Iberia’s MRO product offering. The unit is based at Madrid Barajas Airport.
