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.
Despite a significant cutback in capacity, Austrian Airlines’ first-quarter loss multiplied on higher fuel and operating costs. The airline recorded a net loss of EUR60.4 million (US$96 million), compared with a deficit of EUR16 million a year earlier. Austrian CEO Alfred Oetsch also warned that the airline will not be able to reach last year’s level of profitability. He added that Austrian will find it a “challenge” to pay a dividend as planned in 2009.
Airbus is raising list prices across its commercial aircraft portfolio. Prices are up 2.74% from their 2007 levels to reflect inflation. Additionally, Airbus A320 family aircraft will be US$2 million more expensive, while the price tag for widebodies, including the A380, is upped by US$4 million per unit. Airbus says the increases reflect the weak dollar and higher costs for metal.
Gulf Air, Bahrain’s national airline, will introduce a daily flight from Manama to Hyderabad, India, on July 1. The carrier will use an Airbus A330-200 in a two-class configuration on the route. Gulf Air says the new service is part of its growth and turn-around strategy. Separately, Qatar Airways said it will start daily Airbus A320 flights from Doha to Kozhikode (Calicut) on June 15. Kozhikode is the airline’s third destination in the Indian state of Kerala in addition to Ochin and Trivandrum.
