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.
Tiger Airways Australia appears to be close to being allowed to resume operations, a month after the carrier was grounded by Australian regulators. Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has asked the federal court to delay until Aug. 3 a hearing that could further extend the Tiger grounding. This will give Tiger more time to convince CASA that no such extension is warranted.
Boeing 787 launch customer All Nippon Airways is deferring four 787 deliveries that were due in the next 20 months, thanks to the slow recovery of travel demand. ANA is scheduled to receive its first 787 in September and was slated to take delivery of a total of 14 in its fiscal year through March 31, 2012, and another 10 in the following fiscal year.
Airline fears of a global proliferation of emission tax schemes are beginning to be realized, with the Australian government the latest to try to extract money from carriers under the guise of environmental concern. Just as the battle over a European Emissions Trading System (ETS) is reaching a crescendo, Australia's Labor government has unveiled a plan for large companies—including airlines—to pay a carbon tax of AU$23 ($25.17) per ton from July 2012. This will morph into a cap-and-trade system in 2015.
