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.
Park Air Systems — a Northrop Grumman subsidiary — has been selected by Nav Canada to supply VHF radios as part of a US$50 million replacement program. Nav Canada plans to replace all ground-to-air VHF radio equipment at 320 sites throughout Canada. More than 2,000 pairs of radios will be replaced, using Park’s T6 multi-mode digital radios. About 250 pairs will be delivered in 2008.
Continental now expects its first biofuels trial flight — originally planned for the first half of 2009 — to occur late this year, probably around December. Boeing and GE are also involved in the demonstration, which will use a Boeing 737 aircraft. This will likely be the first such biofuels trial flight in the U.S.
American yesterday completed the sale of its American Beacon Advisors subsidiary to Lighthouse Holdings, Inc. in a transaction valued at $480 million. Beacon is the first major subsidiary to be spun off since American announced last year that it was considering whether to sell various subsidiaries. The deal was primarily a cash transaction, but American also acquires a “small equity stake” in Lighthouse’s parent. Lighthouse is owned by investment funds affiliated with Pharos Capital Group and TPG Capital.
