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.
Air France does not plan a capital increase to finance the acquisition of its Airbus A380 fleet, Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta told The DAILY at the SkyTeam governing board meeting in Seoul, and said, "We will finance the aircraft just like any other."
Air France-KLM Chairman Jean Cyril Spinetta is close to ruling out the possibility of adding Swiss to the SkyTeam member roster. "No, I don't think so," he said when asked by The DAILY if he would enter into talks with the carrier. "We have an excellent network in Europe, and we want to focus on integration, rather than adding members." One top executive remarked that Swiss would have to fulfill more than 120 requirements to join, one of them being financial stability. "There could be an issue," the executive said.
The SkyTeam alliance is considering Kenya Airways and Malaysian Airlines as future members, airline sources told The DAILY on the sidelines of the alliance governing board meeting in Seoul. One executive stated that adding Malaysian was "absolutely obvious" as it entertains links with future member KLM. Also, Kenya Airways could extend the group's network into Africa through the status of associate members. Kenya Airways is 26% owned by KLM. Star Alliance said last week it would add South African Airways (SAA). -JF
