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.
Lufthansa is facing severe operational disruptions after its cabin crew union announced unlimited strike action following the collapse of contract talks. The union, UFO, is not saying when the strikes will start or how it will affect operations. The airline, meanwhile, says it will do its utmost to limit cancellations and delays.
Air France next year expects to start its new African joint venture Air Cemac, but has yet to commit to a firm launch date. The new airline initially will operate a fleet of two Airbus A320s, and further expansion will be based on how demand develops, Air France-KLM’s Senior VP Africa and Middle East, Pierre Descazeaux tells AviationWeek.
Airbus has entered a cooperation agreement with China’s Tsinghua University to explore local biofuel production. Results from preliminary trials to determine what feed stocks are suitable are expected before the end of the year. Used cooking oil and algae are possible candidates. According to Airbus, the initial investigation will be followed by concrete steps to build biofuel production. Airbus has established similar projects in Latin America, Europe, Australia and the Middle East.
