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.
Malaysia-based AirAsia X is making significant progress towards launching an affiliate carrier in Thailand, and has formally established the joint venture that will control the new airline. AirAsia X is the long-haul unit of the AirAsia group, which already has a short-haul joint venture in Thailand. The new long-haul carrier, Thai AirAsia X, is expected to start operations from Bangkok in the first quarter of 2014, an AirAsia X spokeswoman tells Aviation Week. This will be the first AirAsia X affiliate outside Malaysia.
It appears that the Qantas Airways eavy maintenance facility at Avalon Airport—near Melbourne—could be the next casualty of the airline’s efforts to streamline its maintenance operations in Australia.
Although AirAsia Philippines seems to have decided to relocate its hub from Clark International Airport to Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), uncertainty remains as to how and when this will occur. AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes first mentioned the move to Manila via his Twitter account. However, an airline spokeswoman tells Aviation Week that “no operational decisions” regarding the move have been made yet, and the carrier is “still trying to firm up its plans.” Clark is about 50 mi. from Manila.
