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.
Jens Flottau (Frankfurt), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
Lufthansa Cargo and DHL are planning a strategic network alliance that will significantly boost DHL's ambitions in the global parcel express market while positioning the Lufthansa freight affiliate for an expected rebound in world air cargo traffic growth.
Lufthansa said Wednesday it has secured 80% of the revenues generated through travel agencies despite its bitter dispute with travel agency association DRV. Several hundred agencies have refused to sell Lufthansa tickets since Monday to protest the airline's decision to drop commissions. Instead, Lufthansa wants travel agents to charge customers a service fee on top of the ticket fare. Smaller and medium-size agencies fear they can no longer be competitive, but big agency chains have signed the new license agreement with Lufthansa. -JF
Low-fare carriers Hapag-Lloyd Express (HLX) and Volare plan to form an alliance to help keep costs under control and boost revenues. The arrangement would be the second alliance between European low-fare airlines after Air Berlin and FlyNiki announced a similar deal this year. HLX and Volare plan to go through a three-month test phase before a full commitment. During the period, the airlines want to link up their web sites.
