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.
Struggling national carrier Alitalia may get long-awaited help from the Italian government, which is considering tax cuts and funding the carrier's layoff costs to keep the airline afloat. The move, which would apply to all Italian airlines to preclude violating European competition legislation, would save Alitalia EUR120 million annually, according to Labor Minister Roberto Maroni.
Finnair's traffic was up 28% in March, mainly reflecting its expansion strategy to Asia and the acquisition of Nordic Airlink. The airline's load factor rose 2.7 points to 64%. While Finnair is slowly discovering its competitive advantage on the Asian market linked to its geographical position, the airline made clear that it sees continued pressure on yields in Europe. Finnair has predicted improved profits for 2004. -JF
