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.
Fuel hedging and budget offshoot Jetstar have helped Qantas Airways Ltd to post a 46% rise in annual pre-tax profit for A$1.41 billion (US$1.22 billion). Traffic for the year was up 5% and yield 1.2%. Profit for the second half of the airline’s fiscal year, ending on June 30, was flat, despite the slowing global economy, but the company expects a drop of about 40% in its profit for the current year. Qantas said that hedging that covered 80% of its fuel consumption for 2007-08 helped the result, along with the performance of Jetstar.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries expects to develop a 100-seat version of its MRJ regional jet and doesn’t rule out the possibility of building part of the aircraft overseas. A 100-seater would suit the North American market, the company tells the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.
AirAsia X, the long-distance affiliate of Malaysia-based budget group AirAsia, will fly begin flying between Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur from November with four weekly services, rising to a daily frequency from March. The state government of Victoria announced the move. AirAsia X has already said it will fly between Perth and Kuala Lumpur from November, adding to the current service to Gold Coast, which the company says has been quite successful.
