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.
EADS has decided to make significant changes to its corporate structure and put the entire company under the Airbus brand. The board of directors approval followed a proposal put forward by CEO Tom Enders to change the company’s name to Airbus Group. Defense and space units Cassidian and Astrium will be merged and called Airbus Defense and Space. Eurocopter also will lose its current brand and be re-launched as Airbus Helicopters.
A Boeing 787 grounded by Qatar Airways for more than a week has resumed scheduled services. According to industry sources, the aircraft—registered A7-BCB—on July 21 was surrounded by fire trucks just prior to its planned departure, following what is believed to have been a smoke incident towards the rear of the fuselage. Qatar Airways did not comment on the details, other than confirming a “minor issue.”
Growth in air freight has begun to accelerate according to figures released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The latest statistics show a 1.2% growth of air cargo for June. That compares to 0.9% in May and 0.1% for the first half of the year. IATA however, still remains cautious. “It is too early to tell if June was a positive turning point,” Director General and CEO Tony Tyler says, noting that the basis of the June development is fragile.
