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.
The Austrian Airlines Group has withdrawn from bidding in the privatization of Bratislava Airport in what appears to be a further sign of the deteriorating financial condition of the company.
Ryanair last month for the first time carried more passengers than its incumbent rival British Airways. The low-fare airline transported 3.26 million passengers, a 27% increase, while British Airways carried 3.1 million. The BA figures were hurt by a wildcat strike at London Heathrow Airport that grounded the airline for more than 24 hours (DAILY, Aug. 12). Ryanair expects to exceed BA's full-year passenger count as well. -JF
Germany's struggling leisure carrier LTU International Airways is understood to be close to securing a EUR200 million (US$249.5 million) capital injection that could be used to refinance EUR70 million in debt and to fund continued operations. The airline confirms it is in negotiations to finalize the package but declined to give more details. It also did not comment on information that Deutsche Bank could play a key role in the recapitalization efforts.
