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 began a series of high-altitude tests at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the A380 Engine Alliance engines. Addis Ababa, which is at 7,500 feet altitude, will be used to validate the GP7200 engines' performance at high-altitude airports. The aircraft with the GP7200 engines is the fifth development aircraft to join the A380 test program. Six A380 customers have selected the Engine Alliance engine for 82 firm orders.
Air New Zealand last week named Swissport as the preferred bidder in its proposed outsourcing of ground-handling at New Zealand's three largest airports. Air NZ is still in consultations with its unions about the outsourcing but issued a tender to identify its best options. Swissport, with partner company Transfield Services New Zealand, was selected and now must wait for the outcome of the labor talks.
Passenger numbers were up by just 0.5% to 439 million for the first seven months of this year, with domestic passengers down 0.2%, according to new data released by the U.S. Transportation Dept. U.S. airlines operated 6.1 million domestic and international flights, 4.4% fewer than last year. Domestic flight numbers dropped 5%, while international flights increased 2.7%. Traffic rose 2.4% on a 0.5% capacity decline, for a load factor increase of 2.2 points to 80.3%.
