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.
Continental saw its load factor slip slightly in February — mainly due to its international operation — although the carrier managed to keep unit revenues growing strongly. Both consolidated and mainline loads were down about a point to 76% for the month, with international seeing the largest decrease of 1.9 points to 71.3%. Domestic mainline load factor was about flat.
Airline industry groups say FAA should be looking for more immediate benefits from automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) technology, and the agency should focus more on more near-term technology to increase equipage and participation.
The outlook for Asia/Pacific carriers this year is still healthy, with January demand still growing strongly, the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines says. “There is some uncertainty about the potential impact of slower economic growth, but for now we remain cautiously optimistic” about 2008 traffic, AAPA Director General Andrew Herdman said. He noted that 2008 has started “on a positive note with continued steady growth” in international passenger and cargo traffic.
