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.
Airbus shareholders EADS and BAE Systems yesterday gave their stamp of approval to the official launch of the A350 program, and Airbus said it will not draw down any of the state aid promised for the plane's launch until a subsidy dispute with the U.S. is resolved.
Boeing yesterday said Austrian has signed an order to buy one 777-200ER, and at the same time the carrier canceled a 737 order. Austrian flies three 777s on routes to Melbourne via Singapore and to Sydney via Kuala Lumpur. The new 777 will be used mainly for flights to the U.S. and Asia. The carrier stressed that the additional 777 order will be a "significant step toward simplifying the operations and reducing the maintenance costs on [our] long-haul fleet." The new order is scheduled for delivery in late 2006. -AS
DHL yesterday said it is advancing the timetable for expanding its Hong Kong "superhub," committing $110 million to complete the project by 2007. The hub expansion was originally scheduled to be finished in 2013, but DHL said it had to move more quickly because of "the huge growth [the carrier] is experiencing" in Asia. The expanded hub is to be the main base for DHL's Central Asian network. DHL has five other hubs in the region.
