Bradley Perrett covered China, Japan, South Korea and Australia. He is a Mandarin-speaking Australian.
Before joining Aviation Week in 2006 he was a macroeconomics, politics and aerospace journalist with Reuters. Perrett holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Macquarie University, Sydney. He left Aviation Week in 2020.
Qantas will cut capacity by 4% for the first half of next year, while lowering its profit outlook. The Australian carrier now expects a profit of A$500 million ($320 million) for the year to August 2009, down from analyst forecasts of about A$750 million that it endorsed in August. It made A$1.4 billion in 2007/08.
Singapore Airlines is giving the Airbus A380 high marks for a reliable first year of service. The airframe and its Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines haven’t been hassle-free, but the hassles haven’t been too numerous or too serious, say the airline and its maintenance affiliate. SIA Engineering Senior VP Jack Koh says new problems will surely crop up as the aircraft ages in service, but its first year of operations has been above average.
Avic Transport Aircraft Co. is aiming to begin deliveries of its MA700 turboprop airliner, now under development, in 2014. The Chinese company appears to be ahead of Franco-Italian rival ATR, whose proposed 90-seat turboprop is not expected to enter service before 2015, although one engine maker has said it could offer the necessary powerplant in 2013 or 204. Avic Transport Aircraft is negotiating exclusively with Pratt & Whitney Canada for engines for the aircraft.
