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.
Japan’s ATD-X Shinshin stealth demonstrator could potentially be developed as a combat aircraft, should Tokyo so choose, thanks to an airframe that appears to have been designed with a production version in mind. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the country’s fighter specialist, is now confirmed as a key player in developing the aircraft. One of the latest official photographs shows a radar cross-section model of the ATD-X being wheeled out of a Mitsubishi plant.
Chinese aircraft maker Avic I will set up an airline to fly its regional airliners, a move evidently designed to build experience in supporting the aircraft and establishing their reputation for reliability. The carrier, Xingfu Airlines, meaning Happy Airlines, will have China Eastern Airlines as a 40% shareholder and will buy Chinese regional aircraft. Avic I will appoint the general manager.
Chinese airport charges will fall 5% under a new table of prices to take effect on March 1. Charges for Chinese airlines’ international services will rise, however. The Civil Aviation Administration plans to create a uniform system of charges in the coming five years.
