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.
Air India has been invited to join the Star Alliance, as the biggest airline group tries to eradicate its last remaining “white spots” in the world’s big aviation markets. Star Alliance CEOs yesterday unanimously voted in favor of inviting Air India, which expects to join the group in “around 15 months,” Chairman Vasudevan Thulasidas told reporters in Beijing after the Star Chief Executive Board vote.
The first Airbus A380 in revenue service is “performing flawlessly,” Singapore Airlines CEO Chew Choon Seng told The DAILY at the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board meeting in Beijing. According to Chew, the aircraft is “delivering better technical performance than expected.” Singapore Airlines is using its first A380 on a daily roundtrip between Singapore and Sydney.
SAS Group plans to sell its Spanair subsidiary in the first quarter of 2008, CEO Mats Jansson said at the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board meeting yesterday in Beijing. SAS is talking to “a lot of potential buyers.” In Jansson’s view, Spanair is “fundamentally a very good company” in a market with above average growth rates. Jansson does not see strategic questions coming up for Spanair, even if Star Alliance partner Lufthansa is successful in buying rival Iberia in the medium term.
