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.
Virgin Blue expects to report a significant year-on-year drop in its profits for the six months ending Dec. 31, and it says the flooding in Australia’s eastern states will hurt results for the next half-year. A slowdown in consumer spending, together with the effects of the catastrophic floods on operations and demand, could reduce revenue by as much as A$40 million (US$39.9 million) in the current six-month period through the end of June, the carrier reports.
The Nav Canada air traffic control center that handles most transatlantic traffic was temporarily evacuated Jan. 27, causing ground delays and re-routings. Controllers had to leave the Gander Area Control Center at about 9:15 a.m. EST due to smoke coming from an electrical panel in a power supply room. They returned about 40 minutes later, but it took longer to get systems up and running.
Asian airlines saw traffic exceed pre-recession levels in 2010, and demand is likely to rise further this year, according to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines. Monthly growth rates “naturally moderated” as the year progressed, AAPA Director General Andrew Herdman says. This was expected due to the completion of the recovery phase, but “encouragingly, both passenger and cargo traffic volumes have now surpassed their pre-recession peaks.”
