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 and Brazilian airline TAM start a code-share on routes from Frankfurt and Munich to Sao Paolo on Aug. 18. The code-share includes TAM’s daily Frankfurt services, as well as two daily Lufthansa flights from Munich and Frankfurt. The agreement also includes some beyond-services in Germany and Brazil. Lufthansa is eager to bring TAM on board as the next member of Star Alliance. Star lost its former partner Varig as a result of its bankruptcy. Varig assets have been bought by rival GOL.
Austrian Airlines would have to cut its fleet by half (or around 50 aircraft) if it does not find a buyer soon, Executive VP-Sales and Marketing Andreas Bierwirth told The DAILY. Austrian would have to scale down to become an airline purely serving the Vienna market while abandoning its current status as a hub-and-spoke airline. Lufthansa and Air France-KLM are understood to be the frontrunners in a bidding race that is likely to start this week.
Lufthansa passenger numbers were down 1.4% in July after strikes by ground workers and pilots severely disrupted operations. Also, its load factor was down by 1.3 percentage points to 82.2% as passengers booked away on other airlines. The strike among ground workers has ended in the meantime, but pilot work stoppages over a scope clause dispute continue to be a threat to the airline.
