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 expects the takeover of Swiss to generate cost and revenue savings of about EUR165 million annually. Those savings, however, won't register until 2008, CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber said at the airline's annual news conference yesterday in Frankfurt. He also said Swiss will continue restructuring efforts it announced earlier this year (DAILY, Jan. 19) and will cut 13 aircraft from the regional fleet, while adding two for long-haul routes.
The supervisory boards of Lufthansa and Swiss International Air Lines, as well as the Swiss government, yesterday approved the takeover of the Swiss carrier by Lufthansa. The deal, which will be implemented in several steps, will involve a newly formed Swiss company, ensuring that the carrier will not lose its international traffic rights as a result of the transaction. Lufthansa will pay up to EUR300 million for the carrier, depending on the share performance in the next few years.
Lufthansa will announce the takeover of Swiss International Air Lines today, The DAILY has learned, with the boards of both airlines now expected to approve the deal. Lufthansa will pay Swiss small shareholders about CHF50 million for a 14% stake, while the airline's larger shareholders holding the rest are likely to get only nominal financial compensation. All of the Swiss corporations have already written off their 2002 investment in the airline.
