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.
Iberia CEO Fernando Conte does not see a three-way merger among his company, British Airways and Qantas as a realistic goal. Conte told attendees of an Aviation Club meeting in London that it would be “too complex” for British Airways to pursue two mergers at the same time, in effect leaving BA CEO Willie Walsh to choose between Iberia and Qantas as his carrier’s future merger partner.
Lufthansa’s supervisory board yesterday waved through the acquisition of Austrian Airlines. Lufthansa will initially buy the 41.5% stake now owned by Austria’s state holding company OEIAG, but plans to take full control soon.
The Abu Dhabi government is allegedly in talks over buying a stake in Dubai’s Emirates airline, according to the London Sunday Times. The transaction could be part of a larger funding initiative in which oil-rich Abu Dhabi might support its smaller neighbor Dubai. Dubai’s economy is now largely independent from oil income. But its real estate and banking sectors – two of the three large growth sectors besides tourism – have been struggling recently as a result of the global financial crisis.
