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.
While the FAA insists that it will make major strides with a vital air traffic control upgrade by year-end, serious questions are being asked in Washington about whether revised timetable and cost estimates can be met. The En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) program was rebaselined mid-year, but the agency has already missed an important near-term milestone in September. The FAA says this delay will only be a matter of months, and if that is true it would help ease the skepticism of lawmakers and government watchdog agencies.
Virgin Australia and Hawaiian Airlines are due to launch their code-share arrangement by the end of this month after more than six months of discussions between the carriers. The agreement will enable Virgin Australia to sell tickets on Hawaiian’s five weekly flights between Sydney and Honolulu, which are due to be increased to daily service from Dec. 14. Flights among the Hawaiian islands are also covered by the new deal. An existing interline agreement gives Hawaiian access to Australian and New Zealand markets beyond Sydney.
Iraq’s civil aviation organization has taken control of the Baghdad airspace sector from the U.S. military and is now responsible for all of the nation’s airspace for the first time since 2003. The U.S. Embassy in Iraq says the handover from the U.S. Air Force to the Iraq Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) occurred on Oct. 1. The Baghdad/Balad sector is the busiest and most complex airspace sector in the country.
