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.
Aircraft maker Avic 1 and China Eastern have gained approval to start a regional airline this year, thanks to a cabinet-ordered exception to the ban on considering new applications before 2010. The carrier, Xingfu Airlines, will fly Avic 1 aircraft, beginning with MA60 turboprops and later introducing ARJ21 regional jets. The eventual fleet is planned as 50 of each type.
Thai Airways International will develop a passenger-to-freighter conversion business at its maintenance facility at Bangkok’s old Don Muang Airport under a plan that has gained preliminary approval from Transport Minister Santi Prompat.
Competition from a high-speed rail line has forced three Taiwanese airlines to suspend four domestic routes. Mandarin Airlines has given up flights between Taichung and Taitun, UNI Air has stopped services between Taipei and Kaohsiung, and bankrupt Far Eastern Air Transport has dropped its flights between Taipei and Tainan and between Hualien and Kaohsiung.
