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.
Airbus said yesterday it expects the first A380 to fly in the second half of this month. A spokesperson said the A380's first flight would take place after April 15. The flight was originally scheduled to take place in the first quarter of 2005 but has experienced some delay. The aircraft has been handed over to the flight test department for ground tests, among them taxi tests. According to Airbus, six people will be on board of the aircraft, among them three pilots and three engineers. -JF
Swiss will almost certainly set up a separate subsidiary for regional flight operations, CEO Christoph Franz told The DAILY last week. According to Franz, the former Crossair regional fleet that had been integrated into the mainline operation will be turned into a separate company, if pilots don't agree to negotiate a single collective bargaining agreement, a development highly unlikely to happen.
Lufthansa Technik yesterday reported significantly improved financial figures but warned about continuing overcapacity and pressure on prices for the current year. "The very good results we achieved in 2004 will be very hard to match," CEO August Wilhelm Henningsen told reporters in Hamburg where Lufthansa last night also celebrated its 50th anniversary at a large industry function.
