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.
Airbus is studying whether it should offer a 236-seat version of the Airbus A321, industry sources tell Aviation Week. The high-density configuration would be possible using the latest slim seats with the literature bag above, rather than below, the seatback table. Seats also would have to be placed in a 28-in. pitch configuration throughout the cabin. No fuselage stretch or other modifications, such as additional emergency exits, would be needed. Airbus says it has “no firm plans” to raise A321 capacity further.
A consortium of three Chinese investors is acquiring a large majority stake in International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC). The group includes New China Trust, China Aviation Industrial Fund and P3 Investments. Two more companies, including ICBC International Holdings, could come on board at a later stage if an option to buy more of ILFC is exercised.
Virgin Atlantic has selected Aer Lingus as the partner airline to operate the short-haul feeder network into London Heathrow Airport. The long-haul carrier will wet-lease Aer Lingus A320s for an initial period of three years. The airline has been allocated 12 daily slot pairs in Heathrow as a remedy for BMI’s acquisition by British Airways earlier this year. Virgin Atlantic plans to operate six daily roundtrips to Edinburgh and three each to Manchester and Aberdeen to cater to the local market as well as being able to feed its Heathrow long-haul network.
