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.
Gulf Air is making massive cuts to its current Airbus and Boeing orders as it retreats from an ambitious expansion plan. The new agreement between the airline and Airbus “ultimately permits” it to drop an order for 20 Airbus A330-300 and to convert the order into a new commitment for eight A320s and up to 16 A320NEOs. The A320s are to be delivered before the end of this year and the NEOs will arrive in the “latter part of the decade,” Gulf Air says without elaborating on details.
SAS Group shareholders in five days will decide if they will proceed with a new restructuring program to save the airline, and the company's board of directors on Nov. 18 will discuss key initiatives included in its 4Excellence Next Generation (4XNG) rescue plan. Without the plan, SAS will not gain access to new financing agreed on by a consortium of banks and its core shareholders. As part of 4XNG, SAS plans to sell its ground-handling unit, airport real estate, spare engines and Norwegian regional airline Wideroe.
Afriqiyah Airways has converted its existing order for six Airbus A350-800s into the larger -900 version. The airline also added another four aircraft to the order book and now holds a total commitment for 10 aircraft. Afriqiyah did not disclose when it will take delivery of the aircraft. The airline currently operates two A330-200s and one A340-300, according to Airbus. It also has three A319s and six A320s.
