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.
While Malaysia-based AirAsia X is in the process of setting up new hubs for long-haul operations in Thailand and Indonesia, it may be some time before it establishes further overseas hubs, says the carrier’s CEO Azran Osman-Rani.
Low-cost carrier (LCC) Jetstar is moving closer to winning approval for a Hong Kong-based affiliate, and is continuing to expand its Japanese joint venture, Jetstar CEO Jayne Hrdlicka says. Establishing the Jetstar Hong Kong operation is “progressing well,” Hrdlicka said during the Australia Pacific Aviation Conference in Sydney. An application for an operators’ license has been submitted to regulators, and it is expected to be officially announced during August. This will start the public comment process.
A series of one-off costs—mainly related to restructuring initiatives—have helped push Virgin Australia into the red for the year ending June 30. The carrier will not report its full fiscal year results until Aug. 30, but in its latest guidance it predicts an annual loss of A$95-110 million ($84.5-97.8 million). This is a downgrade from previous guidance, and would represent a significant slide from its A$23 million profit in the previous fiscal year.
