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.
Low-cost carrier Tiger Airways Australia has added four more routes to its schedule at Melbourne’s Avalon Airport, where it is due to launch service in November. The airline is adding flights from Avalon to Sydney, Rockhampton, Mackay and Alice Springs. It already announced flights to the Gold Coast, Adelaide and Perth. Tiger is also boosting capacity on the Avalon-Gold Coast route, which will now feature two daily flights.
Japan Airlines says it will extend the service reductions on its Bangkok routes until July 15, as traffic is still being affected by political concerns in Thailand. JAL had already halved the number of frequencies from Osaka and Nagoya to Bangkok through June 30, in response to “a sharp decline” in bookings following the anti-government demonstrations in the Southeast Asian city. Since this decision, JAL says leisure demand has been “slow to recover with continued concern about the stability of the situation,” hence the extension.
Surging passenger and freight demand is propelling a dramatic improvement in the financial outlook for the global airline industry. Asian and U.S. carriers are leading the turnaround, and even Europe’s economic and volcano woes should not be enough to derail a return to profitability this year.
