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.
Qantas engineers’ union claims that one of the carrier’s two heavy maintenance bases is being stretched to meet its scheduled workload, and that some of its work should be allocated to the other base that Qantas is threatening to close. The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) yesterday released a plan showing what aircraft could be sent to the Avalon Airport base, near Melbourne. The future of this facility is under review, as the Boeing 747 work it primarily handles is shrinking as the airline’s 747 fleet is phased out.
Virgin Australia has reached a new deal with strategic partner SilkAir to extend its reach into Indonesia, a key market for the carrier. Under the deal, Virgin Australia is adding five additional Indonesian destinations to its code-share deal with SilkAir, doubling the number of points in that country it can sell tickets to from its Australian and New Zealand network. SilkAir is a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, which is a major shareholder in Virgin Australia.
