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 France-KLM, SAS Group and Easyjet yesterday reported strong traffic growth for November. At Air France-KLM, traffic was up 12.2%, mainly due to strong demand on its North Atlantic routes. EasyJet reported a 8.5% increase in the number of passengers flown and SAS saw traffic grow by 8.3%. -JF
Finnair opted to replace its MD-11 long-haul fleet with Airbus A350s and A340s. The airline said yesterday that it is taking nine 314-seat A350-900s, the first of which will be delivered in 2011. Ahead of the A350 deliveries, the airline will also take three Airbus A340-300Es for introduction from early 2007 onward. Finnair's current long-haul fleet comprises seven MD-11s, and the airline plans to take another aircraft next year; however, the type will be phased out from service in 2012.
The Austrian Airlines Group expects to post a EUR60 million operating loss (US$70.33 million) in 2005, the company said in a statement yesterday. Austrian also predicts significantly negative exceptional items, as the airline disposed of two Airbus A340-200s and three CRJ-100s. In spite of the disposals, Austrian expects to carry more than 10 million passengers in a full year for the first time. For 2006, Austrian anticipates a breakeven result on the operating level.
