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.
Passenger demand for international flights continued to improve in August, although it is still lower than at the same point last year, according to the International Air Transport Association. International passenger numbers were down 1.5% year-on-year in August, a better showing than the 2.4% decline reported in July. For international economy traffic, the August decrease was just 0.4% in August versus the 1.2% fall in July. Premium passengers dropped 12% in August and 14.1% in July.
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh remains optimistic the U.S. Transportation Dept. will rule on the oneworld antitrust immunity application by the end of this month, even though it is looking increasingly unlikely that DOT will finish work by then.
IATA expects to hold its second Agenda for Freedom summit meeting in Montreal as early as next month. The goal of the meeting is to facilitate the signing of a multinational statement of liberalization principles by government representatives. The first summit was held in Istanbul last year.
