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 Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has approved Precision Conversions' Boeing 757-200PCF freighter conversion for use in China, Precision announced yesterday. The award of the supplemental type certificate was "a key requirement for performing conversions for the contract we have with ILFC and Shanghai Airlines in addition to other Chinese operators," Precision President Steven Thomas said. The 757-200PCF is the only 757-200 freighter with the full 15 pallet positions that has U.S. and Chinese certification, Precision said.
American yesterday announced a major upgrade to the business-class section on its Boeing 767-300 and 777 fleets, and is also making smaller changes to its first-class offering. The carrier will introduce new lie-flat seats and improved inflight entertainment for business-class passengers on all 767-300s and 777s. The seats will be installed on the 767s, starting next year, and on the 777s from 2007. They are being manufactured by Recaro. American has been working on the seat improvement plan for at least a year (DAILY, July 22, 2004).
Flight simulator and training company CAE last week reported a profit of C$20.8 million (US$17.4 million) from continuing operations for the quarter ending June 30, a better result than financial analysts had expected. The first-fiscal-quarter result was up slightly from last year's $18.9 million profit. Revenues increased 15% to $266 million, and were also slightly higher than the $262.7 million in revenue from the previous quarter. The increase was largely due to higher simulation product revenue from both civil and military customers.
