Driven partly by a need for more rescue aircraft during natural disasters, Chinese aircraft manufacturer Avic is looking to develop a new class of rotary-wing aircraft through one of its subsidiaries. It would be developed by Avicopter and Russian Helicopters, and could go into service in five to 10 years. The helicopter, called the Advanced Heavy Lifter, is being pitched as a civilian aircraft, but Avicopter has not ruled out military uses.

AirAsia and the Qantas group’s Jetstar Airways are likely to deepen their newly announced alliance, whose ambitions so far include seeking to influence the design of future narrowbody airliners from Airbus and Boeing. The planned joint specification will, perhaps for the first time, present western manufacturers with a powerful Asia/Pacific influence in the design of narrowbody aircraft, just as carriers in the Far East have long been heavyweight players in determining the characteristics of widebody commercial transports.

Boeing’s Shanghai airframe maintenance shop is aiming to match Western labor efficiency with its new Chinese workforce, presenting a challenge to local as well as international rivals.