Chinese Airline Offers Free Upgrades to Premium Economy
Jennifer Billock May 03, 2018
China Southern is currently giving out free upgrades to premium economy on their non-stop flights to Wuhan in order to attract more travelers to their region of China.
China Southern, a state-owned airline, is looking to attract travelers from outside China with a great deal – it’s selling premium economy seats at regular economy prices for its new non-stop flights from London to Wuhan. The flights launch at the end of May and will fly from Heathrow Airport (LHR) three times a week.
The premium economy seats up for grabs aren’t the best in the service class, but definitely better than economy. Passengers will get five more inches of legroom. If you book, get a seat in rows 31 to 36.
According to Nick Newman, commercial manager at China Southern in the UK, the promotion is an attempt to attract more travelers to that route, he told The Telegraph.
The route will be flown on newer aircraft as well, thanks to a substantial investment by the Chinese government, which is looking to up tourism numbers in the country.
China Southern was founded in 1988 and is the fourth largest airline in China, though relatively unknown outside the country. It has received a four-star rating from Skytrax, a distinction which Newman told The Telegraph makes the airline the largest four-star airline in the world. On an annual basis, it flies 126 million passengers on 690 routes, servicing 210 destinations.
[Photo: Shutterstock]
@swgsword, in that original article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/china-southern-london-to-china/ it states, "the fourth largest in the world". For some unknown reason the author changed it to read "the fourth largest airline in China".
@Icecat and Adam1222, in doing a quick search, apparently the author read the following article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/china-southern-london-to-china/ and had no idea about this airline and misinterpreted, "Newman said China Southern was in an “introductory phase” concerned with introducing travellers to China. " as meaning the airline itself was in an introductory phase, rather than just related to "introducing travellers to China". The airline has been around in it's present state for 30 years. Not at all an upstart. These types of serious blunders in the articles seem to have become a daily occurrence. Isn't anybody checking for accuracy and appropriate content? If I post a reply here, it needs to be approved before being visible, but I guess the same standards don't apply to the articles being posted in the first place.
Since when is CZ a upstart airline?
China Southern by all measures is the biggest airline in China. Not sure where the 4th largest came from.
So China Southern is an "upstart airline" now? More accurate story would have started: "China Southern, a member of Skyteam since 2007 ...."