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.
The Thai branch of the AirAsia budget airline group says it will probably start a service between Bangkok and Mumbai in December. The move is part of a shift in emphasis for Thai AirAsia, which increasingly needs to look beyond the already well-served domestic market. International services will grow to 70% of the airline’s business from 50% now, CEO Tassapon Bijleveld told the Bangkok Post. Thai AirAsia expects to report a profit for 2009, with a load factor of 82-85% for the fourth quarter.
Japan may enact a special law to lessen the pension burden on Japan Airlines, as the government increasingly takes control of the process of fixing the beleaguered carrier. A state body, the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp., will be put in charge of overhauling Japan Airlines, local media report. The pension burden is a key issue in rescuing Japan Airlines, which expects to lose ¥63 billion (US$683 million) in its current fiscal year and needs a bridging loan of ¥200 billion to stay in business beyond the end of the year.
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI)is funding a technology acquisition effort in anticipation of a future combat drone program. The company’s work extends to building a scaled version of its design, which it has already put in the air. KAI’s concept, called K-UCAV, would conduct air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, including suppression of enemy air defenses. The stealthy airplane would also operate as an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft with an “excellent sensor system,” the company says.
