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 is pondering a new strategy placing more emphasis on airline business and less on non-core units that have dragged down performance in recent months. It is also preparing a major capital increase to help fund future airline investments. The German carrier plans to issue 76-million additional shares, most likely by June 14, in an initiative to generate about 750 million euros ($900 million). The funding is targeted for expansion plans on long-haul routes and includes acquisition of 15 Airbus A380 mega-transports.
Air France and KLM, the two airlines in new air transport holding Air France-KLM, started integrating their networks and launched some customer service initiatives this week.
German low-fare airline Germania Express expects to make a profit in its first fiscal year and projects EUR133 million (US$162 million) in revenues for the first 12 months. The carrier started operations last June with a fleet of eight Fokker 100s, which since have doubled to 16. Two more aircraft are flying on a wet-lease basis for rival Air Berlin.
