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 U.S. Transportation Dept. is backing away from congestion pricing for New York airports, and sources say DOT is instead looking at slot auctions as well as extending flight caps to all three New York region airports. DOT officials last week told industry representatives it will not carry out its threat to introduce congestion pricing to alleviate New York delays (DAILY, Dec. 7). But the White House still wants to bring in some sort of market mechanism for New York, and DOT has indicated some type of slot auction system could be proposed.
El Al has announced a major move to boost its short-haul fleet, at the same time as it signs a new code share with American that will strengthen its long-haul network. El Al’s board of directors recently approved the purchase of four new Boeing 737-800s to use on short-haul routes. The first will enter service by the end of 2008 and the remainder will follow in 2009, the airline said.
British Airways load factor climbed slightly in November, helped by a healthy pickup in premium traffic. Capacity rose 1.6% for the month, with traffic increasing 2.4%. Premium traffic grew 5% versus a 1.9% gain in non-premium traffic. Load factor was up 0.6 points to 73.1%. Cargo volume rose 5.5%.
