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.
Airbus yesterday added another customer for its new A330-200 freighter program, with Guggenheim Aviation Partners ordering six of the aircraft. According to Airbus, GAP becomes the first customer to actually sign a contract for the A330-200F, converting a letter-of-intent completed last October. GAP will be one of the launch customers for the aircraft, with deliveries scheduled to begin in early 2010.
Continental joined American in announcing a significant profit for 2006, although it fell just short of achieving a fourth-quarter profit. The $343 million net profit for the full year was a turnaround from the net loss of $68 million recorded last year. The fourth quarter may have been in the red, but the loss was still cut by about 40% to $26 million.
Southwest still has a fuel-cost advantage over the rest of the industry, but this advantage is eroding due to a combination of lower fuel prices and expiring fuel hedges, fourth-quarter results reveal. On the same day that American reported a positive turnaround in the fourth quarter, Southwest announced its net profit shrank by nearly 19% to $57 million -- partly due to gains in jet fuel costs as its hedges wind down. However, the airline still boosted its full-year profit to $499 million, up 3.1% from 2005.
