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 Berlin is planning major shifts in fleet allocation within the group as it looks for options to reduce costs further. The unprofitable carrier will move part of its Airbus A320 family fleet to Austrian subsidiary Niki Airlines, industry sources tell Aviation Week. The Austrian affiliate will then move its sub-fleet of seven Embraer 190s to Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter (LGW). The regional carrier currently operates a fleet of 10 Bombardier Q400s on behalf of Air Berlin.
Airbus is working on finalizing another “significant order” for the Airbus A380 soon, Airbus Chief Operating Officer Customers John Leahy tells Aviation Week. Leahy is hopeful a memorandum of understanding (MOU) can be signed before the end of the year and the commitment turned into a firm order in 2013. Leahy declined to identify the customer and the exact number of aircraft under discussion.
Etihad is in negotiations with grounded Indian carrier Kingfisher Airlines over becoming a minority shareholder in the airline. Kingfisher confirmed in a notice to the Mumbai stock exchange that it is “in discussion with various investors, including Etihad Airways, for equity investments in the company.” Kingfisher cautions, however, that “no agreement has been reached either with Etihad or any other airline and the matters are merely at a negotiation stage.”
