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 air traffic control provider DFS no longer believes it can be privatized before 2010. DFS CEO Dieter Kaden said at a news conference yesterday that the step may no longer be possible ahead of Germany’s general elections in 2009. Privatization of DFS should have been completed this year at the latest, but was deferred because of constitutional concerns — Federal President Horst Köhler refused to sign the privatization bill, demanding the constitution would have to be changed to allow private firms to take over state tasks.
Germany’s air accident investigation body BFU has launched an in-depth analysis into why a Lufthansa Airbus A320 came close to a serious crash while landing at Hamburg Airport on Saturday.
TAP Portugal is continuing its aggressive expansion strategy in spite of concerns over high fuel prices and a slowdown in the European economy. The Lisbon-based airline plans to increase its capacity this year by another 10% after receiving more Airbus A330-200s for its long-haul network. The Star Alliance member has deployed the aircraft on new routes to Brasilia and Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and says it is already enjoying high load factors and good yields.
