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.
Frankfurt Airport is going into the detailed planning stage for its various expansion projects, after operator Fraport received regulatory clearance in principle to build a fourth runway. The state government of Hesse last week published a detailed approval document that outlines how the airport can expand. The clearance as such is no surprise, but Frankfurt gained more exceptions than expected from a planned nightly curfew, causing widespread protests in neighboring communities.
EADS’ board of directors is meeting today to decide on the long-standing plans of selling up to six Airbus factories (DAILY, Oct. 9). Even on Tuesday, the decision was still open according to industry sources. While EADS CEO Louis Gallois and Airbus CEO Thomas Enders were heavily arguing in favor of selling, the board appeared to be leaning toward shelving the idea. The decline of the dollar has made the business case for investors even more difficult, as Airbus wants to pay its new suppliers in dollars to shed the currency risk.
Air France-KLM and Air One both unveiled non-binding plans to inject capital into Alitalia and renew its fleet in their bid to acquire the Italian state’s 49.9% stake in the flag carrier. Alitalia’s board is scheduled to meet today to identify the preferred bidder; its decision would subsequently have to be confirmed by the Italian government.
