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China Southern Airlines has become the first airline company operating A380 in China and the 7th in the world. On the first A380 arriving in Beijing on morning of October 15, China Southern held a grand ceremony at Capital Airport, Beijing. After test flight on the October 15-16, A380 will start its virgin flight on Beijing-Guangzhou-Beijing Route on October 17.
October 15, 2011 10:25AM, the first A380 in China as coded B6136 smoothly landed at Capital International Airport, Beijing.
Joined by the first A380, China Southern Airlines has become the first airline company operating A380 in China and the 7th in the world. CSN has ordered 5 A380, and the second is expected to be delivered at end of this year.
As China’s largest airlines, China Southern Airlines operates more than 430 planes, ranked NO.6 in the world. It carried 76.46 Million passengers in 2010, ranked the 3rd in the world and 1st in Asia.
On April 21, 2005, China Southern Airlines and AirBus entered into a contract on purchase of 5 A380 aircrafts. In the last 7 years, China Southern Airlines aroused all the effort to exploit and innovate, and through deepening strategic transformation, advancing internationalization and joining the league of global Alliance, SkyTeam Alliance. Their capability of operation and management has constantly grown, which laid a solid foundation for operation of A380.
A380 is the largest and most advanced civil plane in the world. A380 has full-size and wide-bodied passenger cabin, with lower and upper levels on separate basis. Compared with the previous largest planes, A380 has increased its floor area by 50% and number of passengers by 40%. Its operation will effectively remove the bottleneck of large hub airports for schedule resource and substantially reduce operation costs.
So far, 6 airlines have put into operation 56 A380 planes at large international transport hubs as operation bases. The flight points are all large cities and financial centers in the world. It is expected that super-Jumbo Operation will help China Southern improve it’s brand image and create favorable conditions for being a global carrier.
Mr. Tom Enders, the CEO of the Airbus said: ‘In taking delivery of A380, China Southern Airlines has helped us to open the next chapter of our lasting partnership with the Chinese aviation industry. And to further strengthen the much wider and growing relationship between China and Europe.”
Mr. Si Xianmin, General Manager of China Southern Air Holding Company said: “we have confidence, capability and strength to achieve safe and effective operation of A380. The arrival of A380 will inevitably form a huge push strength, which will drive China Southern Airlines to speed up internationalization and provide a strong support for CSN to achieve its strategic development objects.”
A380 of CSN adopts the classic three-cabin layout with 506 seats. There are 8 private luxurious first-class rooms with horizontal massage seats located at the front of the main cabin, 70 business-class , dislocation-arranged flat-bed seats at the front and the middle parts of the upper cabin, 428 economy-class seats at the main cabin and the back of the upper cabin.
Many facilities of A380 of China Southern Airlines have been selected and designed by the engineers of China Southern Airlines according to need of passengers and the corporate culture unique to CSN. It gives full care and attention to the passengers in every detail especially in terms of the internal decoration and facilities. Many elements of Chinese characteristics will be seen in the cabins. For example, the passengers can enjoy unique Chinese cuisine and Chinese traditional tea culture, tea etiquettes, etc. served by professional tea specialists
For more domestic passengers to board and experience the largest plane in the world, China Southern Airlines has meticulously arranged A380 to make a first flying show on domestic air route at the initial stage. Among others, A380 will fly on the route of Beijing – Guangzhou – Beijing for its virgin flight on October 17, start its formal commercial flight on route of Beijing – Guangzhou – Beijing on October 18-26 and shift to Beijing – Pudong, Shanghai – Beijing on Oct.27-29.
The A380 flight was well received by Chinese passengers. the tickets of 18Oct’ flight were almost sold out. The 16 first-class and 140 business class seats have been sold out a week ago.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
