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.
Recent tweaks to its mainline fleet plans mean Qantas Airways will be retiring seven Boeing 737-400s and three 767-300s during this calendar year and will receive 14 new Boeing 737-800s. Last week, the airline announced it would bring forward the retirement of two 767s, one of the measures it is taking to cut capacity growth due to an increasingly tough operating environment (Aviation Daily, March 31). In February, the airline said it would increase the number of 737-800s it will be leasing.
Air New Zealand and Qantas will both inspect some of their Boeing 737 Classic aircraft for skin fatigue to comply with directives from regulators and Boeing. Air NZ says it will check its 15 737-300s in line with the timetable set out in Boeing’s service bulletin. One of the aircraft, which has the highest number of cycles, needs to be checked within the next five days. This will not affect Air NZ operations, since this aircraft is already undergoing scheduled maintenance.
The Japanese low-cost carrier being set up by ANA has attracted another investor in the form of Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INJC). INJC has invested ¥10 million ($119,690) in A&F Aviation, the LCC company founded in February. With this announcement, INJC will hold a 33.3% stake, First Eastern will also hold 33.3%, and ANA 33.4%.
