Adrian is Auckland bureau chief for Aviation Week, based in New Zealand. He covers commercial aviation in the Asia-Pacific region.
Adrian was previously based in Aviation Week’s Washington office for nine years, writing for a range of the group’s publications and covering many aspects of the commercial aviation industry. He has won Australasian and international awards for his aviation writing.
Prior to joining Aviation Week in 2002, Adrian covered aviation industry and policy issues for two other publishing companies in Washington. He has also worked for newspapers in Texas and New Zealand, covering a wide range of topics. Adrian graduated from Auckland University with a degree in history and English in 1992.
As Australia’s government moves closer to giving the go-ahead for a second Sydney airport, a leading transportation group stresses that such a decision would not obviate the need to ease restrictions at the existing Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport.
Asiana Airlines saw its net profit rise 3.3% to 82.8 billion won ($77.2 million) in the third quarter, although as with its rival Korean Air, a strengthening local currency helped mask a decline in operating profits. The profitable third quarter was not enough to offset losses earlier in the year for Asiana. It lost 45.6 billion won through the first three quarters, compared to a profit of 40.8 billion won in the same period last year.
Qantas Airways will close one of its two heavy maintenance bases in March, rejecting a union’s last-ditch proposal to keep the facility open. The decision to close the base at Avalon Airport, near Melbourne, means that Qantas will be left with just one heavy maintenance facility, in Brisbane. The Avalon base primarily handles Boeing 747-400 maintenance, but the gradual phase-out of this aircraft type is reducing its scheduled workload.
