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.
Airlines are becoming seriously concerned about their profitability, according to the latest airline business confidence index compiled by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). In the survey, 63% of respondents reported a decline in profitability in the past three months, and 52% of them expect profits to be down next year as well. IATA says that report is “concurrent with the expected weak economic backdrop.”
Airlines may face not only a permanent ban on night flights at Frankfurt Airport, but also more restrictions on daytime operations following protests about noise. Volker Bouffier, prime minister of the state of Hesse, says in an interview that he hopes Germany’s highest administrative court will uphold a lower court ruling that imposed an 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew. His own government launched legal proceedings against an earlier ruling that limited nighttime operations, thus his statements indicate a complete about-face on the issue.
