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.
Hopes of rescuing Fairchild Dornier are fading in the wake of a Lufthansa German Airlines decision to cancel its order for 60 728 twinjets. Lufthansa long believed in the 70-seat 728's merits and considered the aircraft the right product for its regional subsidiary CityLine. However, a company official said late last week that the airline's management had no choice but to cancel the order. Lufthansa is believed to be evaluating the Embraer 170 and Bombardier's CRJ 700 to rejuvenate CityLine's fleet.
Europe's mainstream airlines are ready to take the offensive against increasingly aggressive low-cost carriers. Possible initiatives include the adoption of correspondingly low fares on highly competitive city-pairs and the elimination of restrictions applied to bargain rates. This reorientation, although it could affect yields, theoretically could generate additional off-peak revenues and boost load factor, according to some marketing executives. In the last few weeks, several European airlines significantly reduced their prices.
The Star Alliance expects to significantly expand its global route system in the next 12 months with the addition of Korea's Asiana Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines and Spanair. Moreover, Star's members will try to retain Air New Zealand in the group despite Qantas Airways' attempt to acquire a stake in the rival carrier. Asiana, LOT and Spanair last week received the Star executive board's approval to become members as soon as they comply with so-called minimum joining requirements.
