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.
Avic Transport Aircraft Co. is aiming to begin deliveries of its MA700 turboprop airliner, now under development, in 2014. The Chinese company appears to be ahead of Franco-Italian rival ATR, whose proposed 90-seat turboprop is not expected to enter service before 2015, although one engine maker has said it could offer the necessary powerplant in 2013 or 204. Avic Transport Aircraft is negotiating exclusively with Pratt & Whitney Canada for engines for the aircraft.
Japanese manufacturer IHI Corp. will offer an independently developed regional jet turbofan in the next decade, according to plans that envision Japan joining China in trying to break into the civil aero-engine market. After decades of developing expertise in major components of U.S. and British engines, the Japanese company is making a run at getting into the front rank of an industry that has always been dominated by Western companies.
Boeing and Chinese partner Avic have begun to expand their joint composites business in Tianjin, breaking ground on the $21 million project that is planned to increase capacity by 60%. The extension of the business, Boeing Tianjin Composites Co, is due to begin production in 2013. The plant specializes in labor-intensive composite parts. It was called BHA Aero Composites Parts until Boeing bought out the other partner, Hexcel, earlier this year.
