China Southern Airlines Customer Reviews and Passenger Trip Reports

China Southern Airlines customer travel guide

China Southern Airlines 4-Star Airline Ranking

China Southern Airlines Economy class seat reviews

China Southern Airlines First/Business Class Lounge Reviews

China Southern Airlines First/Business class seat reviews

China Southern Airlines Aircraft Seat Plans

China Southern Airlines Passenger seat recommendations

Sydney-Guangzhou-Paris return. Outbound aircraft had old interior with no AVOD only drop down screens. Staff had little or no English. Flight to Paris a major improvement with modern plane, AVOD, and English/French speaking staff. Return journey good on both sectors, flight to Sydney had no AVOD. Food on this airline is at best average with the main dish of the meals on all sectors very poor. However fresh fruit, bread and snacks which accompanied this were all tasty and of good quality. The highlight for me of this airline is the legroom which for me is the best I have come across in economy. At 6ft I could fully stretch my legs out with plenty of room leftover with the seat in front. Would recommend this airline if you are not too particular about food and entertainment. This flight at the time was $700 cheaper than the major carries which fly the kangaroo route.

Narita to Saigon via Guangzhou. Despite being a Skyteam Elite Plus member, I was not allocated the seat I requested, flight was operated on a cramped and dirty B737, too small an aircraft for a 5 hour flight. After boarding everybody early, the aircraft just sat there for ages and we left about 30 minutes late. Food was reasonable but the crew spoke very average English and seemed to think they were doing you a favour by serving you. When I went to the toilet about 30 minutes into the flight there was no hand soap. The second flight also boarded very early and this time we sat on the tarmac for an hour before we left. No explanation, no announcements from crew, and another cramped and dated B737. The lounge in Narita was good (Delta). In Guangzhou Skyteam Elite Plus members get access to am FFP section of their business class lounge which has reasonable facilities. China Southern fell well short on my flights of their 4-Star airline rating.

A very underwheling experience. I am a Skyteam Elite Plus member and thought I'd give China Southern a try from Hanoi to Tokyo Narita via Guangzhou. At the one business class check in counter they had open, somebody had decided to accept an economy class group check in so I had to stand in line and wait about 10 minutes! Check in at economy would have been faster. When I did get to check in the guy had no idea what he was doing and initially told me I would have to reclaim my luggage in Guangzhou and check in again because my second flight was operated by Japan Airlines. Only after I protested how absurd this was did he change his mind! The aircraft was a decent enough A321 but the cabin crew were sultry and spoke limited English. When I asked if they had a copy of their inflight magazine in English the girl looked at me like I'd just insulted her mother! About 5 minutes later having asked a different stewardess I was told they didn't have an English edition. Food was okay though and we arrived on time. Their transfer procedure was an absoulte joke though. First I presented my next boarding pass to a member of staff who stood around laughing and joking with his friends for 15 miutes before deciding to "take me though", which meant getting a stamp in my passport and then walking through to departures again. Then I had to stand and argue for a full 15 minutes just to get lounge access which I am entitled to with my Elite Plus Skyteam card. Only after I kicked up a big enough fuss and demanded to speak to a manager did the staff allow me into the lounge. I have written a formal complaint to the airline but, unsurprisingly, they have yet to reply.

SYD to LHR a few days ago, choosing China Southern because they were 20 per cent cheaper than others and the late evening departure time from SYD was attractive. SYD-CAN was a reasonably new A330 (inflight entertainment very limited, with no PTV screens). CAN-LHR we had a very new A330 with all mod cons and much more comprehensive inflight entertainment. This second plane also the newer style seats, which recline significantly further. Legroom was similar to that on most other airlines. The flight attendants were friendly and pleasant, and generally chatty and informal, which I enjoyed. However, don't expect service where staff walk up and down the aisles with refreshments. I ordered a vegan meal, the quality of which ranged from excellent (a rich, creamy Korma style curry) to pretty disappointing (dry cooked vegetables with plain rice and no sauce). The accompanying salads were basic (a few lettuce leaves and tomatoes) and identical each meal as were the sticky rice desserts. We got a welcome pack, with toothpaste etc on each flight. CAN-LHR leg the bathrooms also had perfume and moisturiser provided. Red wine was of reasonable quality, and there were a selection of Chinese and imported beers. Arriving in CAN airport at 5am is not ideal: there is nowhere to get an alcoholic drink at that time, though there was a free transit lounge with comfortable armchairs, free soft drinks and espresso style coffee making facilites (also free) and some free, basic snacks. Shops and cafes don't seem to kick into service until about 7.30am. The flight to LHR was delayed at the last minute by about 1.5 hours because of air traffic control problems. We were forced to sit on the plane during this time. However, the aircon worked and the flight attendants were happy to supply drinks. Apart from CAN airport, which is easy to navigate but essentially boring in the middle of the night, I found China Southern comparable to Qantas and European airlines I've flown with, but significantly cheaper.

I flew from Sydney to Vancouver return, via Guangzhou. Cant say that they were any better or worse than any other airline. There was not the vast forms of entertainment you may get with Emirates but when you are sleeping, who cares. Most people brought i-pads etc for their own entertainment. Food was airline industry standard. The was English speaking hostesses and I found them to be courteous. My only complaint is the same as any other airline, some of the obnoxious passengers, no matter what race, religion are there to test you.

Purchased a cheap ticket Sydney to London return before reading reviews, I went prepared for the worst. Food is fine - average quality but edible, toilets where cleaned on all legs so no complaints there, staff are efficient - not your smiley happy Asian crew but they do their job and while English is not good you get your point across. On our return flight there was an Australian crew member which did make a world of difference. IFE was the only point I agreed with other reviews - SYD-CAN on old A330 with drop down screens on the CAN-LON leg with had a modern A330 with in seat screens which only had limited English material - was very glad I'd loaded my ipad with Films. If you like wine on board you will find that they run out reasonably quickly after the first meal service. 3 of the 4 flights left on time, seats were fine and CAN airport is ok but food is very expensive (coffee $7.50 AU). Overall I would fly with them again and the savings certainly compensated for any short comings.

I have flown with China Southern Several times from LAX to CAN (Guangzhou) and vice versa. Flew on a Boeing 777. Seats in economy class are uncomfortable. I am tall so a 13-15 hour flight can be harsh, especially if I have a middle seat. Generally the seats are uncomfortable. A neck pillow can be the difference between sleeping and being awake the entire flight for a tall person. Dinner was served a couple of hours after take off and breakfast was served a couple of hours before landing. The food is nothing spectacular. It's a hot meal and it fills you up. Free snacks were available at various times throughout the flight if you walked back to the galley and grabbed them. They varied from hot sandwiches to rolls. They would also occasionally walk by with a basket of rolls and offer them. Free beer and non alcoholic beverages are available at anytime throughout the flight. In flight entertainment will change from flight to flight. Usually you will get 1-3 English movies that loop over and over and a few Chinese channels also. However, the programs will frequently freeze, skip, and sometimes just stop playing altogether. Some people may be in a seat with a broken monitor, but they do not charge for the in flight entertainment. The lavatories tend to become very dirty about 7 or 8 hours into the flight. The staff may or may not clean them. Numerous people are always getting up and walking around, so if you also do this the plane will feel very congested. Staff are friendly. Despite the crowded conditions China Southern feels like a throwback to how domestic airlines were about 10 years ago.

Auckland to Paris June 2012, Paris to Auckland September 2012 Overall excellent value for money. The flights were on time, along with my bags, food good and service attentive although English language not always good. IFE poor. Transfer in Guangzhou not that easy: Outbound took 2.5 hrs to get short stay permit to transit for 19 hrs but then taken to Pullman Hotel which was great. Return flight permit no problem but transit hotel was Good East which was dreadful so spent most of the time in the business lounge which was good. Seats spacious and comfortable - converts to flat bed.

Flew Melbourne to Barcelona return. The food was good, the toilets were clean, the staff were good and spoke English. All our flights were on time, getting through Guanghzou airport was a breeze, plenty of English signage. Great value for money ($1300 against $2100) and would recommend.

I would say that China Southern offer value for money. We got from Melbourne to London return for $1400 each in the June/July school holidays. Airplane was clean, legroom was same as others I've been on, transfer of flights at Guangzhou and also the plane landed on time for all 4 legs. Overall quality of the plane from Guangzhou to London was amazing. The service is average, you ask a question and staff shrug their shoulders and walk away if they don't have the answer, Guangzhou airport facilities are appalling. The biggest negative they ran - out of food!! We ended up having to but our own food each time we got off the flight.

Sydney to London, return. The flights all interconnected, Business Class lounges were good, showers easily available, food great, and all my luggage was checked right through both ways and arrived intact. I have no complaints at all. I was happy to put up with then overall extended travel time (30 hrs+) as I had plenty of time, and at half the QANTAS price. In fact, the good Lounges broke the long journey down into more reasonable segments.

LAX-CAN-CTU on 777. It was a bare bones business class experience. There was no pre-flight beverage service other than water or juice. Inflight service was fine, nothing spectacular. FAs needed prompting to refill my wine glass at dinner, and the beef was rather tough. Flight crew English language skills were marginal. CAN airport was confusing for domestic transfer, but the amenities were fine. Flights arrived and departed on time, and all my luggage arrived as scheduled at CTU. I would recommend if you'd like to fly business class or want to accumulate Skyteam miles and are on a budget.

I chose to go with China Southern as they were the cheapest, first mistake. From the very beginning the flight was late leaving Brisbane after much confusion over seat allocations and my grandson was upgraded to premium for no apparent reason, this became a big problem when it was time for our return flight. We landed in Guangzhou mistake number 2, the most disorganised and chaotic domestic airport I have experienced. After a long bus ride from plane to terminal and the usual long wait to get through customs we rushed to find our 7.30 connecting flight had been cancelled. After lots of yelling and screaming and of course the obligatory pushing and shoving we got boarding passes for an 8.30 flight only to find after running to the boarding gate that it had been delayed until 10.30. Finally boarded the plane only to then have to sit on the tarmac for another 45 minutes. At last we landed in Shanghai at 1 am. We were unable to return to Shanghai from Sanya due to a typhoon closing the Shanghai airport. The problems began though when we diverted our flight directly back to Guangzhou in order to get our flight back to Brisbane. The airline told us that my 15 year old grandson had not boarded the plane from Brisbane with us and therefore could not use his return ticket. Well this cost us two full days of very stressful phone calls. It was only when he was presented in person at the international airport and we showed his passport where he had entered China that they finally accepted that he had flown with us and issued him with a boarding pass to allow him to travel home with us. If we had not had my daughter as translator I am not sure how things would have turned out as we were never able to find anyone with sufficient English to help sort out any of the issues. I will never fly with this airline again.

REP-CAN-PEK return in Premium Economy and Economy (2 legs each). 3 of 4 flights were delayed (less than 1 hour) with announcements made well into the delay. 3 of 4 legs had IFE problems (loud static heard through headphones, skipping movie, IFE broken). 1 leg plane was under-stocked (no toilet hand towels, no beer, ran out of main course in half-empty aircraft). That said, I mainly enjoyed my flights. Attendants were cordial, food was hot and tasty and the seating was fine. I would fly them again for short-haul, unsure for long-haul.

Guiyang-Shanghai Hongqiao, Shanghai Hongqiao-Changsha return, all with premium economy and on time departure/arrival. Brand new B737 and A321, clean and well-maintained. Spacious legroom, blanket and pillow was put in seat prior, tasty hot food and good quality beverages served.