August 2008 Archives

The mere mention of Japan to those involved in business aviation results in a sigh, a roll of the eyes and a shrug of the shoulder. The world's second largest economy is a beacon of innovation that produces marquee brands like Sony and Toyota.

Yet its restrictive policies have resulted in it having only 60-odd business aircraft - in contrast, the USA, home to the world's largest economy and business aircraft fleet, has over 16,000.

 

Unlike other Asian countries, poor infrastructure or high fees do not plague Japan. Instead, it is held back by a myopic bureaucracy that still applies 30-year-old regulations - 60min ETOPS thresholds, forcing foreign-registered aircraft to apply for permits seven days before flights, limits on slots for business aircraft at Tokyo's Narita and Haneda airports while simultaneously preventing access to the capital's secondary airports.

There is pent-up demand for business aircraft in Japan, yet after years of challenging the status quo the exasperated business aviation community has elected to concentrate its efforts on the booming Indian and Chinese markets instead.

While these countries face numerous challenges to build and develop infrastructure, their governments are working diligently to accommodate their business aviation industries - which, as a result, are thriving. Japan has hinted that it may ease some restrictions for business aviation this year. Let's hope so.

Welcome to Asian Skies! This is the Flight Asia Pacific team's way of sharing our opinion about the aerospace industry with those who are keen on the region as well.

Asian airlines account for a large number of new aircraft orders, defence contractors have a big presence here as armed forces modernise their fleets, and the business jet sector is registering the fastest growth rates in the world.

 Yet there is also an acute shortage of pilots in the region, governments still refuse to coordinate policies due to narrow nationalistic interests, and the investment in much needed infrastructure has not kept up with the growth.

 Issues like these make us glad to be in Asia, writing about an industry with so many hopes, challenges and opportunities. These are interesting times, and we hope that this blog will help us to navigate through them.

We want to know what you think too, so please leave a comment or an opinion about the topics that we raise. Together, we can have a useful discussion about Asian skies.