SkyTeam member China Southern will completely remove first class on its flights between Brisbane and Guangzhou in favour of more seats in business class and economy.
Currently served by an A330-200 with four first class suites, 24 business class beds and 141 standard economy seats, that’s swapped to a larger A330-300 come July 2 2015 – boosting business class and economy to 30 and 187 seats, respectively.
Stretch out in business class aboard China Southern's Airbus A330s...
Also affected is the airline’s separate ‘economy plus’ cabin which offers travellers up to five inches of extra legroom, losing one row to become 41 seats: down from 47.
A China Southern spokesperson confirmed the changes to Australian Business Traveller, and also shared that Brisbane-Guangzhou flights would increase from five-times-weekly to daily between October 25 2015 and March 26 2016 on the newer aircraft.
CZ382 currently departs Brisbane at 9:55am on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, reaching Guangzhou at 5pm on the same day.
On the return, CZ381 is wheels-up at 9:15pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, touching down in the Queensland capital at 8:25am the following morning.
China Southern is also shaking up its other Australian flights with selected Sydney-Guangzhou services upgraded to the Airbus A380 over the Australian summer and Perth-Guangzhou flights boosted from four- to five-times-weekly come October.
Follow Australian Business Traveller on Twitter: we're @AusBT
Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
30 Aug 2013
Total posts 440
No offence Chris, but does anyone care? I assume the only people booking these are Chinese who dont know any better? Surely anyone who has that much money to drop on an F fare would fly a real airline instead?
12 Jun 2014
Total posts 71
interesting --"I assume the only people booking these are Chinese who dont know any better?"
how did you come to that conclusion?!
China Southern is a full service airline ... like many other airline, they have the right to drop F class if it doesnt make business / cost sense for them on that route.
Please refrain from using nationalities for comments on product evaluations.
I's not Chinese and i am offended with your questions.
07 Oct 2012
Total posts 1251
Personally I would prefer AusBT to report on these things, even if they don't personally interest me. If you're not interested, you don't have to read it!
26 May 2012
Total posts 149
I care that one of the largest airlines in the world doesn't see demand for top-end product between BNE and CAN. That is an interesting industry insight that AusBT has provided.
So yes, people do care. This is why we read this website.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
28 Jan 2015
Total posts 106
Second time this week...
However, it does interest me
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
21 Aug 2014
Total posts 503
AusBT is a free website for everyone to use, their job is to keep the Business PAX reading this informed on all the options out of Australia and if it doesn't interest you, you don't have to watch it as if it's compulsory to read. There are many articles I find not interesting so I don't read them instead of making a fuss here in the comments section.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
04 Mar 2014
Total posts 204
seems a very low seat count for the 333-300 30+187..
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2441
Plus the 41 'economy plus' seats for a total of 258.
Air China - Phoenix Miles
05 Jun 2015
Total posts 9
When was the last time you actually flew with any of the Chinese airlines? I guess never, because you know better? Amazing how ignorance and racism come so natural to some people. Charming!
Air New Zealand - NZ*E
17 May 2015
Total posts 93
Keep up the great work Chris - love hearing about these type of stories. That's what makes ABT with reading!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
29 May 2014
Total posts 15
Love this article as it's informative and enjoyable reading. Keep up the good work!
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
10 Jan 2012
Total posts 259
Actually had no idea that CZ offered F! Thought we only got F from EK. Well there you go! Actually, there F goes...
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2441
Along with Emirates, Brisbane also has first class available on Etihad, Korean Air and Hawaiian Airlines, although the latter is really 'business class' as we Aussies would know it.
(And occasionally when China Airlines flies its Boeing 747s, you can sometimes book a business class ticket and select a first class seat, but with business class service.)
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
10 Jan 2012
Total posts 259
Didn't realise about KE either. And we've only had F from EY since June 2. That's true about HA... First only in name.
04 Jun 2015
Total posts 2
Informative article Chris, please keep them coming.
22 May 2015
Total posts 27
He does have a point. But everyone that is a member on this website are definitely interested in articles such as this. So please don't say that noboy cares about the article, especially if it is on one of the world's largest airline.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
27 Aug 2015
Total posts 1
I have actually flown with China Southern BNE-CAN and we flew premium economy- yes the service was basic but the flight left on time, arrived on time, the seats were comfortable and it was all that we expected. I also flew Beijing to Guangzhou and again- it worked like clockwork. The only disappointment was the hotel they put us up in as transit in Guangzhou- it was a shocker- it would have been condemned if it was in Australia. The Airport Pullman is worth paying the money if you need to stay over. Don't let the airline book it- it was over an hour's drive from the airport and very uncomfortable. Our return night flight to BNE was fine and due to a medical emergency we were diverted to Cairns and delayed a few hours but the air crew coped well in a terrible situation. Sadly the passenger passed away as we were coming into Cairns but the Cabin crew were prodfessional although very upset, and we continued as soon as the authorities allowed.
So to the F class heckler I say this- we all want value for money -be it first, business or economy class- and China Southern may not have all the frills but they get the important stuff right. They leave on time, arrive on time and make you feel valued on their flight.
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on China Southern axes first class on Brisbane-Guangzhou flights