Anyone flown China Southern airline?

Good,bad ugly?

Yep, found them to be perfectly fine.

Only thing is the ever cheerful customs officers when transiting through Guangzhou,

Yep, found them to be perfectly fine.

 

Only thing is the ever cheerful customs officers when transiting through Guangzhou,

I don't think any customs officers are cheerful are they??! Think they beat humour out of them at immigration school!

Anyone flown with them with young children?

I'd check the route and the stopovers. IIRC often there are overnights on these routes and there can be big delays in China on some of these airlines.

Personally, I'd not fly them but that is me. I pick one of the top 5 and stick with them. Usually Singapore airlines. Have used Qatar, Cathay, BA, Qantas, Malaysia and Emirates when flying to Aus in the past. Would pick Singapore every time. If its price that is appealing check sites like seatguru to see what the airplanes will offer, legroom etc so you can see what you get for your money. And check if they are known for delays in China.

My other thing is I like the A380 on the long leg from London to Singapore (or whichever other country we change in in Asia) and then the smaller more cramped plane like the 777 for the shorter leg. Far nicer this way. Last time with Emirates we had the 777 for the long leg and the A380 from Dubai - London. Never flying that route again.

Thanks , I haven't heard of seat guru. The price for china sthn is so cheap but I guessed there must be a reason.

Thanks , I haven't heard of seat guru. The price for china sthn is so cheap but I guessed there must be a reason.

Its not a terrible airline from what I've read in the past. Probably one of the better Chinese ones. But I doubt it ranks up there with any of the big ones in any way. I'm sure others have posted feedback on here in the past about the airline and it was fine, nothing to write home about and got them from A-B and all that. The price was the appeal for most as it was cheap.

Mixed reviews on here from passengers doing the UK - Australasia route - might be worth having a look at those.

http://www.airlinequality.com/airline-reviews/china-southern-airlines/

I've flown them, they're fine. To be honest, in economy there is not much to differentiate between most airlines. These days they all have personal entertainment systems, they all have cramped seats and they will all feed you sufficiently. I've flown Singapore, China Southern, Cathay Pacific, JAL, Emirates, Etihad and Brunei Airlines over the last few years. That's a mix of 'good', and 'cheap' airlines. Brunei didn't do booze which was a problem but it was $200 per head cheaper at the time and they were happy for me to drink the duty free Sure some of them had nice touches like the seat recliner on Cathay and the fixed head rest on Etihad, which made the journey more comfortable, but I can't say I'd have paid much extra for those if I'd had the choice. Changi airport is awesome so I might pay a bit extra to stopover there.

Things may be different when flying with children. Even small luxuries can make the difference when flying long haul with kids and I would probably seriously consider paying extra then. Of course, the savings are even greater when buying tickets for all the family, and a few hundred dollars can get you a nice stopover in SE Asia...

They code share with Air France, so if you get a French plane the food is better...China Southern are very good for a Chinese airline.

I've never gone straight through (we meet in Guangzhou coming from the UK and Oz, then do a family thing), but i didn't like the seats on the Chinese plane.

It's built for Chinese and their customary hard as nails seats, I was in agony. My brother's Chinese wife didn't notice a problem, but then she sleeps on a wooden plank.