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.
British Airways saw its capacity and traffic drop slightly in December, due in large part to the pre-Christmas flight cancellations at fog-bound London Heathrow Airport. December traffic was down 0.5% on a 0.1% capacity drop, and load factor declined 0.3 points to 73.9%. Premium traffic was 2.8% lower than last year, and non-premium was down by 1%. Cargo volume was affected even more, dropping a hefty 11.6% for the month.
British Airways today plans to hire a 747 freighter aircraft to help move passenger baggage from London Heathrow Airport to New York Kennedy, after a combination of baggage system breakdowns and grounded flights separated thousands of passengers from their checked bags over the holiday period.
Continental is warning it will see a "modest" fourth-quarter loss, although the airline achieved better December revenue performance than expected. Guidance released last month already indicated a fourth-quarter loss, but Continental wanted to reinforce this message "in an attempt to rein in a stubborn" Wall St. consensus of a slight profit for the quarter, JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker said yesterday. The fourth-quarter loss will not derail Continental's full-year 2006 profit.
