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.
Austria’s state holding company OEIAG expects European Commission approval for the sale of Austrian Airlines to Lufthansa in June, CEO Peter Michaelis said in an interview yesterday. Michaelis stated that Austrian and Lufthansa so far have not submitted a notification, as they aim to clarify as many questions as possible ahead of the formal proceedings. Once submitted, the commission can decide on the application within three months or prolong the approval process.
Aeroflot yesterday officially confirmed its interest in buying a 49% stake in its alliance partner CSA Czech Airlines. “CSA is the largest and most stable airline in Central Europe in economic and market terms. By joining and mutually expanding their route networks, Aeroflot and CSA will be able to become more profitable,” says Aeroflot CEO Valery Okulov.
Tourism group TUI will decide the future of its leisure carrier TUIfly in March, the company said yesterday. It is still in talks to sell the financially struggling unit to Air Berlin, but observers believe it is unlikely the carrier would want to add more capacity in times of economic uncertainty. Alternatively, TUI could keep TUIfly, but significantly scale back its size.
