Here is a regional airline with Chinese characteristics—one that is growing so fast that it is rapidly picking up mainline characteristics. In just five years, the company has evolved from operating Dornier 328s to Embraer ERJ 145s, then Embraer 190s and now Airbus A320s. By mid-decade it plans to take the remarkably non-regional step of introducing widebodies for intercontinental services. A freight subsidiary is also in the works.

Japan’s defense ministry is hoping a six-year program by Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) to develop a light utility helicopter can yield a civil application, although it acknowledges the final decision will be left to the manufacturer.

Chinese regional carrier Okay Airways aims to expand with an order for 20 aircraft and a subsidiary airline that would be open to strategic investors. It plans to order 20 Xian MA60s, which will add to a fleet that already contains five of the type and expects to add two more due in the next few months, Deputy President Liu Jieyin tells local media, adding that Okay is preparing its application to the Civil Aviation Administration of China to set up the subsidiary. Like its parent company, the new airline will operate regional routes.