Early Sunday morning an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX crashed shortly after takeoff, making it the second 737 MAX to crash during the initial phase of flight in the past several months (a Lion Air 737 MAX crashed after takeoff last October). As I…
Nowadays we see airlines forge partnerships more freely than ever before, and we just saw the introduction of one that I'd consider to be pretty amusing. Airline partnerships have evolved over the years. Back in the day airlines largely formed partnerships…
Hah, well this sure is... amusing. Qatar Airways has just announced that they've acquired a roughly 5% stake in China Southern. Qatar Airways says this was an on-market purchase of certain A shares and H shares. Here's what Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al…
Last year American Airlines invested about $200 million in China Southern, which is China's largest airline. This move came out of left field, given that American and China Southern previously didn't cooperate in any way. While it's theoretically possible…
Yesterday it was announced that China Southern will be leaving SkyTeam as of January 1, 2019. This is something that has been rumored for a long while, though many wondered if it would ever happen. What's interesting here is that China Southern is leaving…
There have been rumors of China Southern leaving SkyTeam and joining oneworld for years. In ways this is logical, as oneworld doesn’t have an airline based in mainland China, while China Southern has second-rate status in SkyTeam, given Delta’s close…
While we don't have exact details yet, Alaska's governor has announced that in 2019 there will be year-round direct passenger flights between Alaska (I would guess Anchorage) and Harbin, located in northeastern China. The governor says that the deal…
We've seen Chinese airlines add a ton of capacity to the US the past few years. From LAX alone there are now nonstop flights to over a dozen cities in mainland China, which is sort of nuts. The amount of expansion by Chinese airlines is largely what…
We've seen an incredible amount of growth when it comes to aviation in China, and in particular we've seen huge expansion when it comes to longhaul international flights being operated by mainland Chinese carriers. This has included a lot of routes that…
Since 2009, China has had a “one route, one airline” policy. Under this rule, only one Chinese airline can operate each longhaul route. There are a few markets where there are exceptions (like Shanghai to Frankfurt), but in a vast majority of longhaul…
Our bus ride to the plane was so long that I started to wonder whether we were actually parked in Hong Kong. Once everyone was standing near the stairs the "security officer" motioned for everyone to wait, and about two minutes later boarding began.…
I had a roughly three hour transit in Guangzhou, with my flight from Los Angeles arriving around 5:30AM, and my flight to Singapore leaving around 8:30AM. Upon landing in Guangzhou it was a long walk to the transit and immigration checkpoint. My first…
I arrived at LAX as late as possible for my flight to Guangzhou. China Southern uses the Korean Air Lounge for their passengers at LAX, which I find to be a less pleasant place to sit than the terminal (that's not an exaggeration -- obviously it's better…
Video footage has emerged of a power bank in a passenger's bag catching fire on a China Southern flight today from Guangzhou to Shanghai (CZ3539). Passengers noticed some smoke coming from the overhead bin, and then a crew member and a passenger worked…
Hello from Singapore! After flying China Southern's A380 business class from Los Angeles to Guangzhou, I connected to Singapore on a China Southern A320. Before I talk about that, Guangzhou Airport is just freaking awful. When I transited years ago I…
Hello from Guangzhou! I just flew China Southern's A380 business class on the 15hr10min flight from Los Angeles. I was curious to see how this flight would turn out, given the, ahem, interesting experience I had when I took this exact flight in first…
In early 2017, American Airlines bought a $200 million stake in Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines. On some level this was surprising, given that prior to this the two airlines didn't cooperate in any way. They had no codeshare agreements, and American…
The past couple of years we've seen a massive increase in the number of discounted business class fares that airlines publish. It used to be that a $2,000 roundtrip transatlantic business class fare was exceptional, while nowadays it's quite common.…
Late last month I wrote about the interesting rumor that China Southern may be joining oneworld, while Cathay Pacific may be joining Star Alliance. Personally I think it's highly unlikely that Cathay Pacific leaves oneworld and joins Star Alliance, even…
There are many things to love about the Korean Air SkyPass program, which is transfer partners with Chase Ultimate Rewards, meaning the points can easily be earned with cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit…
Danny Lee of the South China Morning Post has an interesting story today about the prospect of Cathay Pacific leaving oneworld and joining Star Alliance, and China Southern leaving SkyTeam and joining oneworld. Both of these moves have been rumored for…
