Tiger Airways is reporting the first signs that the recent slump in Chinese air traffic will end after the August Olympic Games. CEO Tony Davis says the Singapore-based budget carrier’s bookings for flights to China have suffered from such factors as restricted visa availability. But bookings for flights after the Olympics are coming back quite strongly, he tells Dow Jones newswires.

Qantas no-frills offshoot Jetstar will add more Asian connections to its new hub at Darwin as it seeks to build an international narrowbody budget network. Rival Tiger Airways, meanwhile, says it is dropping its services to Darwin from Melbourne and Singapore, blaming fuel and airport costs but also avoiding a head-to-head fight with Jetstar, at least for the moment. Putting details on a strategy that Qantas foreshadowed in November, Jetstar says it will base three aircraft at Darwin by mid-2009 and up to seven within five years.

Boeing will double the size of its Chinese composites operation, increasing its politically useful presence in its largest export market while also taking advantage of local labor conditions. The planned expansion of BHA Aero Composite Parts in Tianjin follows the agreement of U.S. composites maker Hexcel to sell its share in the business to Boeing, which now has an 80% stake alongside partner Avic 1.