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.
AirAsia X blames a string of setbacks in various markets for a bleak second-quarter performance, although it remains confident that it can achieve a turnaround in the second half of the year.
Sydney Airport has struck a deal with Qantas to buy back the lease on one of the main terminal buildings, which will give the airport more flexibility in its redevelopment plans. Qantas currently has a lease on Terminal 3 through 2019, but the airport will pay A$535 million (U.S.$392 million) to end the arrangement this year. Under the deal, Qantas will continue to use the entire terminal for its domestic operations until 2019, and will occupy most of the facility from 2019 to 2025. The airline will pay usage fees in the same way as other airline tenants.
The two major carriers in the Philippines have both recorded strong increases in net profits for the first half of the year, although Philippine Airlines (PAL) improved the most and overtook its LCC rival Cebu Pacific. Cebu this week posted a net profit of 5.2 billion Philippine pesos ($53.98 million) for the six months through June 30, up by 64% over the same period last year. However, it was below the P5.9 billion profit predicted by PAL in a recent stock exchange filing.
