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.
Swiss International Air Lines said last week that forward bookings are up 25% since it introduced a new fare structure late last month (DAILY, Aug. 29). The structure is based on one-way segments and is similar to the one used by low-fare airlines. Swiss is close to a decision on its new strategy. The company is evaluating whether it should remain independent, join an alliance -- oneworld -- or seek an equity partner -- Lufthansa. -JF
Condor Flugdienst, operating as Thomas Cook Airlines' German arm, plans to sell its remaining fleet of six Boeing 757-200s to cut capacity down to market demand. Condor management, in a notice to employees, said that selling the aircraft was the only viable option for the airline and that job reductions would be directly linked to the phaseout. The note also said there were no plans to dissolve Condor or reintegrate it into Lufthansa.
British Airways' August traffic was up 4.8%, BA said yesterday. BA's load factor improved by 0.1 percentage point to 69.6%. Air France traffic increased 4.2%, and the passenger load factor rose to 79.7%. The improvement was partly due to reduced fares at both airlines, analysts said. KLM's traffic fell 1%. The load factor at Europe's fourth largest airline improved 0.8 points to 85%. -JF
