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.
Germany’s federal government is expected to approve the much-criticized air passenger duty at a cabinet meeting in Berlin today. The tax is part of a multi-billion package aimed at reducing the large federal deficit, which has widened as a result of the recent financial crisis.
Iberia cut its losses in the first half of the year by 87% and was profitable in the second quarter, the airline said on Friday. Iberia attributed the improved results to higher demand on international routes and a boost in business travel, while costs remained under control. But the carrier, which plans to merge with British Airways, still makes losses in its domestic network where it faces strong competition from low-fare carriers and high-speed trains.
SAS Group is phasing out its remaining MD-90-30s, all eight of which are leased to an undisclosed U.S. airline for five years. The phase-out will start in this quarter and will be completed in second quarter 2011. SAS says the transaction “fits very will into SAS’ initiative to simplify and standardize its fleet.” According to the airline, the MD-90s are 13.5 years old on average. Of its 239 aircraft, 145 are flown by Scandinavian Airlines. The carrier placed the order for its eight MD-90s in 1992, and the first aicraft arrived in 1996.
