A civil aircraft unit of Chinese aerospace conglomerate AVIC I will raise production capacity of the MA60 turboprop to 30 a month. China's top economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, approved the rise in production capacity. The company isn't saying it will actually build 30 MA60s a month, but the type's prospects have improved with the government's decision this month to cease registering new airlines, except carriers proposing to use Chinese-built aircraft.

Qantas Airways Ltd. says it will order more aircraft within two months, adding to an order book that already includes 65 Boeing 787s and 20 Airbus A380s. The booming Australian airline isn't identifying the type of aircraft it wants to order, but it is known to be thinking of rationalizing its narrowbody fleet to a single type.

China’s airlines and aircraft industry should benefit from a government decision to restrain growth in the country’s civil aviation market, although Western manufacturers could see less demand from the Asian giant. Almost no new airlines will be allowed until 2010 at the earliest as part of a policy aimed at slowing rapid traffic growth that is straining infrastructure and the supply of skilled labor.