China Southern Launching Flights Between LAX & Shenyang

How many skymiles can this be booked for in economy?

What do connecting options into North Korea look like from Shenyang? Or best crossing the border by land?

I actually do not understand why all the newly opened LAX route by Chinese carrier depart around midnight out of LAX, for example, LAX-CSX, XMN, SZX... however all the US based airline have departure time around noon. Personally I prefer departing around noon to midnight.

Just a note that CZ has several 330s in non-flat, 2-2-2 configurations in Business class and they have been using these for some of their international long hauls from their secondary hubs. Hence, it’s likely passengers won’t get the “normal” 330 for this route.

Shenyang seems obscure from this outsider's perspective. But a city of 8 million is huge....I'd love to know the route analyses on this. What are the business interests? Load expectations? Freight needs?

My experience with the Chinese airport is that there is no uniformity. Every airport has its own sets of rules and regulations on who's allowed to enter or transfer through. What are the restrictions on entering or transiting through this SHE airport? For Americans and other passport holders?

Thank you!

@Lucky

Forgot about PVG-PIT???
It seems to be a very successful flight according to local media. The dead leg load is 30-40% so that is much less subsidy that first reported.

@JDHogg
There are two Korean air flights carrying passengers from Shenyang to ICN and transferring to US. One is A333, one is 777. So there should be a demand there. However, how big the demand is is not sure.

@bsp - because both respective sets of airlines are trying to maximize connecting opportunities into their respective gateways. Cities like LAX or the spoke to an Asia carrier, so arriving into Asia at 5am increases their ability to sell connections onward, which a large percentage of passengers are doing. On the US side, carriers are looking to funnel people from other spokes into the hubs like LAX, so they need to wait until later in the morning or early afternoon to allow for transits.

@Kalboz: Shenyang is one of the cities with a 72 hour visa-free transit policy, so for Americans, plus virtually all European passports, Canada, Mexico, Australia, NZ, Japan, South Korea, and a handful of other countries, you'd be able to connect in Shenyang for up to three days without a visa, if you have an onward ticket to a third country (i.e. not mainland China, and not back where you originally came from).

Shenyang sits right in the heart of the north-east China (AKA China's rust belt). Shenyang is kind of the Detroit of China, which had been the center of heavy industries of China from 1930s until 90s. It was traditionally considered as one of the "Major" cities in China.

However, it is now a city with one of the lowest GDP growth (-3%/y), one of the most aging population (young people tend to find opportunities elsewhere in China).

There is a government initiative to make the city more competitive to attract new businesses. I think that is why we got a flight here.

@Mitch Cumstein: Access by land to the border is fairly easy. Once there, the DPRK military will happily watch your every move and many soldiers will give you an overwhelming escort into the country.

My take on this service is to compete with Air China. China Southern (CZ) main hub has been Guangzhou. Most people will not take CZ if their final destination is in northern China. This will make Shenyang an attractive alternative, and maybe bring more passengers. Shenyang has its problem too. It’s in Manchuria, winter time snow storm frequently shots down the airport. That was the reason, that there was a China Northern Airlines, no longer in business. Guess who took over? You guess it, China Southern.