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.
Australia’s new government has delivered on the first of its pre-election promises relating to aviation by implementing a freeze on a controversial departure tax known as the passenger movement charge (PMC). Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb has confirmed that the PMC will remain at A$55 ($52.11) per passenger for the full term of the current parliament. Robb is one of the new ministers appointed after last month's Liberal-National Coalition election victory.
German company GroupEAD, which operates Europe’s primary aeronautical database, is expanding its presence into the Asia-Pacific region in cooperation with Airways New Zealand. The two companies have reached an agreement to form a joint venture, to be called GroupEAD Asia-Pacific Ltd. The joint venture will be headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand, and will include Airways NZ’s aeronautical information management (AIM) staff. The two stakeholders expect the new company to launch operations in early 2014.
AirAsia’s Philippine affiliate is pressing for the group’s long-haul carrier AirAsia X to open a new hub near Manila, but it appears that no such move is on the horizon. While discussing plans for Zest AirAsia—a joint venture in the Philippines—Chairman Michael Romero said that Zest is trying to convince AirAsia X to establish an affiliate of its own at Clark International Airport. Clark is about 50 mi. from the more central, and crowded, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila.
