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.
The latest financial report from the International Air Transport Association shows continued recovery momentum in the airline industry, following a stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter performance. Passenger traffic for the first two months of 2010 is up by more than 10% versus the same months last year, with cargo up more than 20%. “There are no signs of the upturn slowing as yet,” IATA said. However, the group again stresses that yield improvements are lagging traffic gains.
American Airlines and JetBlue are considering forging even tighter links in the wake of a new interlining and slot-swap agreement the two carriers announced March 31. The interline deal covers certain New York Kennedy (JFK) and Boston Logan domestic and international routes, allowing the airlines to sell tickets for connecting flights that involve a JetBlue and an American leg. American CEO Gerard Arpey notes the deal covers interlining on non-overlap routes only – the carriers will “continue to be adversaries” in markets where they compete.
Demand on international routes continued to strengthen in February, and the International Air Transport Association predicts that traffic will soon be back to pre-recession levels. International traffic was up 9.5% year-on-year in February, with cargo jumping 26.5%. While these are strong gains, IATA stresses a favorable comparison with February 2009, which was the low point in the global recession. Year-to-date passenger traffic rose 7.9% on a 1.4% capacity hike.
