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 Berlin is continuing its quest to become a true low-cost airline following this month's launch of an initial public offering. Air Berlin's stock was traded for the first time on May 11 with an initial share price of 12 euros ($15.34) and gained about 5% that morning. The stock has since dropped to 9.9 euros. The company is now Germany's second airline to be floated on the Frankfurt stock exchange, following Lufthansa.
South African Airways was fined $83 million by the South African Competition Commission for allegedly illegally fixing prices with Lufthansa on routes from South Africa to Germany. A case against Lufthansa is understood to be in the process of settling for a similar fine, the commission said. SAA has admitted the wrongdoings, while Lufthansa has not commented on the case. SAA last month became a member of Star Alliance but has been code sharing with Lufthansa for many years. -JF
Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi expects to receive an order from SAS for the Russian regional jet before the end of the year, Sukhoi's head of civil aircraft program Viktor Subbotin said yesterday at a news conference in Moscow. SAS is known to be studying large regional jets and has said that the study includes Sukhoi. If it placed an order, SAS would be the first Western customer for the program. -JF
