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.
Senate leaders say they intend to bring the FAA reauthorization bill to the Senate floor this week, although there could once again be fierce debate about slot restrictions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). The FAA bill will be essentially the same as the bill passed during the last congressional session. It was approved as a streamlined bill, with many issues put aside to be addressed later in the process. One of the most contentious of the outstanding issues was whether to loosen restrictions on long-haul flights at DCA.
Korean Air bounced back to profit for the full year 2010, based on a surge in revenue, particularly on shorter international routes. The carrier’s net profit for the year was KRW468.4 billion ($420.4 million), a turnaround from the KRW98.9-billion loss in the previous year. Revenue rose 22% year-on-year to KRW11.5 billion, while operating profit increased more than sevenfold to KRW1.1 billion.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key says the government will consider reducing the majority stake it holds in Air New Zealand, although he also says this ownership model has worked well and should be emulated with other state assets. In an annual policy speech, Key said he has asked the treasury for advice on “the merits and viability” of reducing the government’s shareholding in the airline, which is currently about 75%. However, he stresses that the government would still retain a majority stake.
