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.
Qantas plans to launch a flight to Oneworld partner American Airlines’ Dallas/Fort Worth hub, and the carriers say they will also apply for a closer commercial partnership. The Sydney-DFW flights are scheduled to begin May 16 using a Boeing 747-400, with the return flight stopping in Brisbane before continuing to Sydney. The service will initially be four times a week, but the airlines say they want to increase frequency to daily.
Qantas has agreed to pay $26.5 million to settle a class action law suit in the U.S. relating to the ongoing freight price-fixing saga. The settlement, which is subject to court approval, will resolve Qantas’s liability, the airline says. The carrier also must cooperate with the class action plaintiffs. The class plaintiffs were purchasers of cargo services to or from the U.S. between January 2000 and Sept. 11, 2006. Seven other carriers have already settled in similar class actions.
Rockhampton Airport in Queensland, Australia, expects to reopen to flights by Jan. 24 as the floodwaters that submerged the airport begin to recede. The airport has been closed to airline operations since New Year’s Day due to flooding that has affected much of Queensland. This airport appears to have been worst affected, and while Brisbane has been hard hit by floods, its airport has remained open.
