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 yesterday immediately canceled its long-haul services from Munich to Hong Kong and Shanghai, citing plummeting demand at the hands of the SARS pneumonia crisis. The carrier has operated six weekly flights to Hong Kong and a daily service to Shanghai using Airbus A340-300s. The airline planned to introduce services between Munich and Beijing in the summer, but is now expected to step back from the plans.
British regional carrier FlyBE (formerly British European) has placed an order for 17 Dash 8 Q400s plus 20 options. The deal is a huge boost for Bombardier's slow-selling program and underlines FlyBE's unusual strategy of using the low-fare business model to serve regional routes with regional aircraft.
Association of European Airlines (AEA) members' traffic to the Asia-Pacific region fell 17% in the second week of April, reflecting travelers' concerns over the outbreak of the SARS pneumonia. "The impact of the Middle Eastern war is by no means at the end of its cycle, while the impact of SARS is at a much earlier stage," said AEA's secretary-general, Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus. "Combined, they add enormously to our business uncertainty."
