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.
Changes in U.K. holiday patterns and the Terminal 5 debacle contributed to a significant fall in British Airways’ traffic and load factor for April, the airline said this week. Traffic dropped by 7% versus a capacity decrease of 0.4 points. This resulted in a load factor drop of 5.1 points to 71.6%. The traffic fall comprised a 3.4% increase in the premium category, with non-premium declining 8.8%.
American calculates the MD-80 inspection cancellations contributed to a 4.3% cut in mainline capacity in April. The carrier’s mainline traffic was down 6.6% for the month, and load factor dropped two points to 80.1%. Domestic mainline traffic declined 8.4% on a 5.9% capacity cut, resulting in load factor falling 2.3 points to 82.2%. International traffic was down 3.1% on a 1.5% capacity decrease.
Negotiations for the second stage of the U.S./European Union open-skies agreement would be an “excellent opportunity” to discuss aviation’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, says FAA official Dan Elwell at a hearing of the House aviation subcommittee. However, EU Ambassador John Bruton is skeptical and tells The DAILY the EU has so far “not been very satisfied” with U.S. attitudes toward airline ownership and control and the environment. During the hearing, Bruton and Rep.
