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 charter and scheduled airline Air Berlin plans to place an order for up to 60 new aircraft next year to replace part of its current fleet and cater for growth capacity. The airline is looking at the Airbus A319/320 or the Boeing 737-800, Managing Director Joachim Hunold told The DAILY in Berlin. The carrier currently operates a fleet of 44 aircraft, mostly 737-800s and 737-400s, of which it owns 21. "We could do a fleet roll-over (to Airbus)," Hunold said.
SAS Group, on an aggressive acquisition course that includes significant investments in Air Botnia, Estonian Air and Air Baltic, has increased its stake in Spanish carrier Spanair to 94.9%. SAS previously held 74.9% of the carrier and is paying EUR75 million (US$88 million) to Spanish tourism group Teinver in the transaction. The company has the right to purchase the remaining Spanair shares under the same conditions, and Teinver can also implement a put option and sell its remaining stake. -JF
Israel's civil aviation authority ICAA told Lufthansa to significantly reduce capacity on flights between the two countries, contending that the move is necessary to ensure fair competition on the routes. ICAA said Lufthansa has to reduce available seats by 15% in December, 25% in January and 35% as from April 2004. Lufthansa is considering legal action. The airline serves Tel Aviv twice daily from Frankfurt using Boeing 747-400s and Airbus A340s-300s. -JF
