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China Southern Airlines A380: What you need to know

27 Jul 2013 by GrahamSmith

China Southern Airlines became the first Chinese carrier to take delivery of an A380 aircraft in autumn 2011.

It now has five superjumbos, but operates them mainly on domestic routes - Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong - out of Guangzhou due to a dispute with Air China over flying the A380s from the latter's Beijing home.

As a result, China Southern has lost money on its A380s and only flies to one international destination, Los Angeles, although it has announced plans to fly the aircraft to Sydney from October.

China Southern A380

China Southern A380

China Southern A380 first class

First class: One of eight suites at the front of the main lower deck

It should be noted, however, that in September 2012 it was reported by Chinese media that China Southern would jointly operate a Bejing to Paris service with Air China with its A380 from the following month.

Although this never came to pass, a Los Angeles route did commence as planned.

The carrier configures its superjumbos in a three-class layout, featuring eight first class seats, 70 business class seats and 428 economy seats.

China Southern A380 business class

One of the 70 seats in business class

China Southern A380 economy class

The 2-4-2 layout in economy

First class is at the front of the main lower deck, followed by 352 economy seats in a 3-4-3 configuration.

The upper deck features a further 76 economy seats in a 2-4-2 configuration at the rear of the aircraft, followed by 70 fully-flat business class seats, confusingly also referred to as First Class, making a total 146 seats on the upper deck.

csair.com/en/

Graham Smith

China Southern A380 seatplan

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