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 Group head Richard Branson claims Australian regulators are not acting fairly by ruling against a Virgin Blue-Air New Zealand joint venture and at the same time renewing a Qantas code share with South African Airways. Branson noted that the Qantas-SAA agreement was approved again despite concerns about reduced competition. Virgin Blue subsidiary V Australia has announced it will pull out of the South African market because it sees little prospect of making a profit as a minor player in competition with Qantas and SAA.
Hawaiian Airlines saw its passenger load factor jump 2.6 points to 88% in August, as the airline’s traffic growth stayed ahead of a hefty capacity hike. Traffic rose 14.3% for the month, compared with an 11% capacity increase. For the year to the end of August, traffic was up 3.7% on a 1.7% capacity rise. This resulted in load factor increasing 1.7 points to 85.4%.
Australia’s main competition watchdog says it intends to deny a joint venture application by Virgin Blue and Air New Zealand. The planned joint venture would have covered routes between New Zealand and Australia. The draft ruling by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the second regulatory blow in as many days for Virgin Blue, after the U.S. Transportation Department issued a preliminary ruling denying antitrust immunity for a joint venture with Delta Air Lines on U.S.-Australia flights.
