I figured given the relative lack of reviews and infos online for China's largest airline, China Southern, I'd give a few thoughts and a brief review of my experience during my trip to China. All flights in Y.

Flights taken :
CZ 674 LHR - PKX
CZ 6217 HRB - PKX
CZ 3122 PKX - CAN
CZ 331 CAN - FRA

Plus points :
+ New aircraft, solid hard product and decent soft product
+ China's largest carrier, so plenty of flights to suit your schedule.
+ For long-haul flights, strong value for money and time-savings advantage (overfly Russia)

Disadvantages :
- Despite what's advertised, no wifi
- Below average infotainment due to government regulations
- Utilitarian cabin finishes

Summary : Times have changed, chinese carriers (at least CZ) have upped their game. If you're willing to put up with some minor inconveniences, CZ offers a compelling product with significant time/money savings on long-haul flights.

My two week-long journey to mainland China with CZ started at Londres Heathrow. I flew in from FRA with BA on the same ticket, as CZ has numerous codeshare agreements with various airlines. At FRA, my bags were tagged to PKX, but I could not check-in or obtain my boarding card for CZ. BA often uses T5, but CZ is with many of its former Skyteam airlines in T4, so consider the transfer time and contrôle security needed, which is significant. CZ uses the annex gates at LHR, which is a good 10mn walk from all the shops and main terminal of T4, so I would not get to the gate until you're ready to stay in the barren area of this terminal w/o services.


Porte d'embarquement LHR PKX

Check-in and obtaining the boarding card was easy, and certain Skyteam members retain their benefits. In my case as Flying Blue Gold, I had all the benefits of their Gold card holders, basically Skypriority for all itineraries with CZ. Boarding was done efficiently, but prepare to queue up early if you don't have Priority boarding.

Appareil A350 CZ 674


Trajet LHR - PKX

Flight time to Beijing Daxing was relatively speedy 9h30. The A350 was just under 2 months old. The Y set up is pretty standard for the industry, 9 across and 32" pitch. Seat confort was average with the Recaro seats. This brings me to the first point : with CZ their products are new and correct, but the finishes and creature conforts are nothing more than basic. A white interior and basic blue colour scheme, an intotainment system that does what it needs to, and nothing more. Power for charging only by USB in Y, there are no sockets. There appears to be wifi installed in the aircraft, but it is not enabled on their fleet- I asked the crew. Probably they need to figure out the necessary ways to deal with the Great Firewall required.



Meals in Y are decent if you opt for the chinese offering, in both quantity and quality. The beverage selection, merely average, with the usual basic colas, hot water/tea/coffee, and beer and wine for international flights. Service, previously a sore point on Chinese airlines, is now up to western standards. The attendants were kind and generally helpful, and the announces in English were good (although I spoke exclusively Mandarin anyways). Service speed was good for the meals. During midflight, a selection of snacks and juices are available in the galley, and flight attendants would come by the cabin asking those awake, proactively offering water and snacks. The snacks are better ex-CAN than ex-LHR, with the former having hot buns and various Chinese sandwiches, while the latter just having cold sandwiches.


Déj LHR PKX

Vue droite Krasnoyarsk


Vue gauche Krasnoyarsk

The entertainment system, previously a sore point on mainland airlines, was just passable but falls short of its competitors and that of its non-censored competitors. I am guessing this is due to films needing to have the appropriate governmental approvals in mainland China, so this kind of strangles what can be offered. There are some western films, but nothing absolutely brand new (most probably a year old). Combined with the lack of wifi.....this remains the biggest weak spot in my opinion. Good thing the flights aren't longer than they need to be; the ability to overfly Russia remains a big advantage in time savings.


Magazine

The usual mainland gripes remain too, with the excessive no-service times of 30mn after take-off and about 40mn before landing, where everyone has to be seated and cabin service ends. At least the entertainment is uninterrupted, but you just can't get up for quite a period of time. The in-flight magazine is unfortuantely, only in simplified Chinese. I'm sure it would have been an interesting read, for those who can read it. Hint : if you want to be an international airline, you need at least two languages for your magazine.



Approche PKX

After landing at PKX, it's really quite a walk for anything as the facility is huge. There are the moving walkways, but it is really still quite the distance between the gates and passport contrôle and luggage claim. The queues were short for passport control, about 15mn maximum for non-Chinese nationals.

For my Chinese domestic flights, the experience was similarly positive in most ways. At both HRB and PKX, there are separate check in areas for Skypriority members (at PKX this is on 3F, not 4F like everyone else). There is also a separate area for security controls, so big time savers for those who qualify. Check in staff were polite, and bags tagged without any major issues. Hot meals are provided for Y as well, although there isn't a choice for domestic flights and the beverage selection is very limited (juices, water, tea, sodas only).


Intérieur A330

My final flight back was PKX - CAN - FRA. This itinerary gave me access to both the PKX and CAN lounges.
There are 3 lounges at the massive Daxing airport, I recommend you choose based on your porte d'embarquement so you don't find yourself with a 10-walk right when boarding starts. While the furnishings for the domestic lounges at PKX were nice and spacious, I found the food offering between meals (it was 16h30 when I was there) to be pretty poor, as it was too early for dinner and too late for lunch. But it's reasonably quiet away from the hustle and bustle of the terminal.


Terminaux PKX

Salon PKX


Salon n° 2 PKX

For my flight PKX to CAN, I had preordered a special dinner meal, to give it a try. Cost was 57 RMB for the shrimp with rice & lentils, taste wasn't bad. I appreciated the lighter taste compared to the usual heavier and saltier standard meals, and the larger portion (and 1st to be served !) was nice. On these domestic flights, I was also greeted personally by name by the attendant at the beginning of the flight, given my status - a nice touch !


Dîner precommandé

Making correspondances at CAN is a breeze. As usual, a bit of a walk, but passport control was rapid (took 2 minutes) and once in the international area of T2, I went for the Lounge to grab dinner before service ended (around 21-22h). The lounge at CAN cannot hold a candle to those with CX at HKG, and I still believe the CI lounge at TPE is better despite the lack of windows. But at least the CZ lounge remains spacious and confortable with admittedly, strange choice of view overlooking the terminal instead of outside. There is even an outdoor terrasse, intended for smokers; but with no one there, I enjoyed some fresh air before the intercontinental flight to Francfort. There are also showers at your disposition; I highly recommend getting in the queue right upon entry for the shower rooms.


Salon CAN

Salon CAN

The return flight to FRA was good and uneventful. FRA isn't a major destination, so the load in Y was only about 50% with plenty of empty rows up front. Took advantage of that and snagged a row = poor man's business class. Got a solid 4-5h of rest on a flight time of 11h30mn ! I opted out of dinner, having already eaten in the lounge and the departure was after midnight. Interestingly, breakfast was served on Beijing time, and therefore, in the middle of the flight 7h after departure. Works for me, but perhaps not for light sleepers who want to sleep the entire flight. The catering out of CAN was very good.


Appareil A350 CZ 331



Trajet CAN - FRA


Petit déj FRA CAN

Overall, I would say, don't hesitate to fly CZ. The old days, old clichés associated with mainland carriers are past. Service was pretty good, not as polished as that of western carriers are CX, but rules were enforced (e.g no sneaking into another cabin) and attendants were polite and courteous. I'd dare say, better service than some western airlines (*coughLufthansacough*) The hard product is solid and confortable. Again, can't compare with CX or CI in terms of amenities or entertainment. But if you're looking for a good value, good way to get to your destination on-time and in reasonable confort, I wouldn't hesistate to recommend China Southern.