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.
Air Berlin is looking at opportunities to grow its long-haul business following the decision to join the Oneworld alliance, but is taking a cautious approach toward expansion. Germany’s second-largest airline on Tuesday was invited officially to join Oneworld at a ceremony in Berlin. The process is expected to be completed by early 2012, but ahead of this the airline plans to introduce bilateral cooperation agreements with American Airlines, British Airways and Finnair.
Air Berlin plans to join Oneworld, significantly enhancing the alliance’s presence in the European market. The airline disclosed its intention in an ad-hoc filing on Monday after the close of the German stock exchange and said it will come up with more details of the deal at a news conference today.
There now appears little chance that Congress will pass an FAA reauthorization bill this week, meaning that yet another short-term extension will likely be passed in the next few days. With the current extension due to lapse Sunday, there is still no sign of agreement between the House and Senate over the last outstanding issues. The Senate was hoping to pass a revised version of the reauthorization bill this week, but disputes between senators over the perimeter rule at Reagan Washington National Airport make this unlikely too.
