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.
SAS Group is contemplating selling some of its subsidiary companies in order to be able to cut its debt. CEO Joergen Lindegaard said in an interview, "We must assess whether we are the best owner." Parts of the group's ground and maintenance operations could be affected, Lindegaard added. The company hopes to halve its $2 billion debt in the next few years ahead of a refinancing deal. SAS also faces the medium-term renewal of its large MD-80 fleet, which has been shelved to allow for the airline's financial recovery. -JF
Lufthansa's takeover of majority control at Eurowings will come under close scrutiny from the European Commission, which has extended its investigation deadline from this week to Dec. 23, after Lufthansa offered concessions for the deal to be waved through. The airline stated the extension came as no surprise.
British Airways traffic in November was up 6.3%, the airline said yesterday. BA's capacity increased by 3.6%, leading to a 1.9-percentage-point improvement in load factor (73.2%). The growth was fueled by a 12% improvement in premium traffic, BA noted. At rival Ryanair, traffic was up 23% measured in passenger numbers. The airline recorded an 81% load factor -- down one point compared with November 2004. -JF
