SPECIAL LIVERY - China Southern Airlines / Boeing 737-8 MAX / B-1200 - My Altay, the Snow Capital of China

Photo: Lazy Clutch
 

FLEET - China Southern Airlines welcomed its 11th homegrown C919 aircraft into the fleet.

Our C919 fleet has operated more than 11,000 flights across multiple commercial routes, serving over 1.55 million passengers.

China Southern

 

FLEET - China Southern orders 102 A320neo, Xiamen orders 35

China Southern Airlines (CZ, Guangzhou) and its subsidiary Xiamen Airlines (MF, Xiamen) have ordered a total of 137 aircraft from Airbus, China Southern revealed in a stock exchange filing. A total of 102 A320neo aircraft will go to China Southern, while Xiamen’s fleet will be updated with 35 of the type.

Deliveries for China Southern are set to take place in batches from 2028 to 2032, while Xiamen’s new aircraft will start entering the fleet in 2029 with final deliveries expected also in 2032.

The filing states that China Southern and Xiamen Airlines received a significant discount compared to the list price.

China Southern’s fleet already includes 178 A320neo family aircraft, while Xiamen Airlines operates 19 A320neo family aircraft in its fleet.

The announcement comes shortly after Germany's chancellor, Friedrich Merz, announced during a state visit to Beijing that China was looking to purchase up to 120 Airbus aircraft. Airbus operates an A320neo final assembly line in Tianjin.

CH Aviation

 

FLEET - 10th C919 has been added to ChinaSouthernAirlines fleet

 

ROUTES - China Southern Airlines is launching direct flights between Helsinki ⇆ Beijing Daxing, staring from 29 March 2026!

Flight Schedule:

Helsinki → Beijing Daxing (CZ8172)

Tue / Thu / Sun (29 Mar – 19 Jun) | Daily from 20 Jun onwards

Departure: 20:35 → Arrival: 09:45 (+1)

Beijing Daxing → Helsinki (CZ8171)

Tue / Thu / Sun (29 Mar – 19 Jun) | Daily from 20 Jun onwards

Departure: 14:45 → Arrival: 18:35

Aircraft: Boeing 787-9

| Flight time: 8 hours 10 minutes / 8 hours 50 minutes

 

ROUTES - China Southern Airlines has put the domestically produced C919 aircraft into operation on the Guangzhou–Nanjing route

 

SPECIAL COLOURS - China Southern Airlines / C919 / B-658W - 15th National Games – Vibrant Bay Area (第十五届全运会——活力湾区) cs

Shanghai-Hongqiao - ZSSS, China
Photo: DeRu

SPECIAL COLOURS / AIRCRAFT - China Southern Airlines C919 Landed in the UAE Ahead of Its Debut at the 2025 Dubai Airshow

The China Southern Airlines C919 landed successfully at Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai. The aircraft is now preparing to participate in the 2025 Dubai Airshow, which will be held from November 17 to 21.

During the airshow, three aircraft manufactured by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC)—including the China Southern Airlines C919—will be showcased together in an overseas appearance.

China Southern

 

SPECIAL COLOURS / A350-900 / B-308T - "Vibrant Greater Bay Area – Dancing on the Global Stage" special scheme,

Beijing Daxing Airport - ZBAD, China
Photo: Meng

SPECIAL LIVERY - CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES / B737-86J / B-5598

Photo: David_jin

SPECIAL Scheme - China Southern Airlines / B-657X / COMAC C919 - "GAC Trumpchi." scheme

Hangzhou-Xiaoshan - ZSHC, China
Photo: ZSHC_Thomass

 

FLEET - CHINA SOUTHERN / A320NEO / F-WWDG

Photo: Alain Charpentier
 

ROUTES - CHINA SOUTHERN NW24 GUANGZHOU – ISLAMABAD AIRCRAFT CHANGES

China Southern in Northern winter 2024/25 season is adjusting operational aircraft on Guangzhou – Islamabad route, reflected in last week’s schedule update. From 01DEC24 to 27FEB25, the airline will operate Boeing 787-8 3 times weekly, instead of the larger -9 variant.

CZ8069 CAN1540 – 2015ISB 788 247
CZ8070 ISB2215 – 0715+1CAN 788 247

 

FLEET - 1st C919s for Air China and China Southern

During a ceremony at Shanghai-Pudong on 28 August 2024, COMAC delivered the first C919s to Air China and China Southern Airlines. For both airlines, it's the first of 100 they have on order. Both airlines will take delivery of two more C919s this year.
Air China took delivery of C919-100ER B-919X (00019), which was ferried to Beijing-Capital on 29 August 2024, while China Southern welcomed C919-100STD B-919J (00018), which flew to Ghuangzhou on 29 August 2024 as well.
With these deliveries, all three major Chinese airlines have the C919 in the fleet, with China Eastern currently being the largest operator with seven aircraft. It's expected that Suparna Airlines will be the first next operator.
According to COMAC, the manufacturer holds firm orders for more than 1,000 C919s and 700+ options.
Photo by COMAC.

 

FLEET - ARJ21 aircraft carries more than 10 million passengers

On board of Flight CZ3892 of China Southern Airlines from Guangzhou to Jieyang, ARJ21 aircraft ushered in the 10 millionth passenger on November 24th, 2023. So far, ARJ21 aircraft have carried more than 10 million passengers.

ARJ21 aircraft is the first turbofan regional jet independently developed by China. Since ARJ21 aircraft was officially put into commercial operation in June 2016, a total of 117 aircraft have been delivered to the customers such as Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Chengdu Airlines, Genghis Khan Airlines, Jiangxi Air, China Express Airlines and TransNusa. The aircraft have successively served in more than 400 routes in more than 140 cities at home and abroad, operated nearly 1,800 flights per week, basically forming an airline network covering the regions such as North China, Northeast China, East China, Southwest China, Northwest China and Central-South China, and launched overseas operations in Indonesia.

Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC) has always adhered to the principle of being customer centered to provide customized services for customers, gained the customer service core competences of customer training, material support, engineering and maintenance support, technical publication service, flight operation support, and market and commercial support, and established an operation support system to ensure the large-scale development of ARJ21 aircraft.

Against the background of the service mode of "An Interconnected Network of Trunk, Regional, and General Aviation" enforced by Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), all airlines have explored the operation modes of combining trunk lines with regional lines and combining regional lines with regional lines in accordance with their own characteristics, therefore, there is a large market development space for ARJ21 aircraft. COMAC will continue to work hand in hand with customers to deepen domestic aviation markets, expand overseas markets, promote the large-scale operation of China-made commercial aircraft, boost the high-quality development of civil aviation, and make positive contributions to continuously meeting air passengers' travel demands for popularization and convenience.

COMAC 

SPECIAL LIVERY - China Southern Airlines / A321-211 / B-8966

 Photo:  Lockdown

China Southern, China Eastern to resume B737 MAX deliveries

 
China Southern Airlines (CZ, Guangzhou) and China Eastern Airlines (MU, Shanghai Hongqiao) are planning to resume taking deliveries of B737 MAX aircraft in 2023, in a step that could mark a quiet de-escalation of the ongoing trade tensions between the United States and China.

China Southern said in its annual report that it planned to take thirty-seven B737 MAX in 2023, followed by 35 in 2024 and 31 in 2025, restoring its previous plan of adding 103 aircraft of the type. The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows the airline currently operates thirteen B737-8s and has a further 44 on firm order. However, Chinese airlines habitually remain tight-lipped about their aircraft commitments usually placed through state-owned lessors and disclose future orders shortly before deliveries.

In turn, China Eastern - whose fleet currently comprises three inactive B737-8s with a further seven on disclosed order - plans to take two aircraft in 2023, followed by six in 2024.

China Southern Airlines became the first Chinese carrier to resume commercial operations of its B737-8 in January 2023, nearly four years after the type was grounded. The redeployment of the type happened without much fanfare but was subsequently followed by other airlines - though not China Eastern, which keeps its B737 MAX grounded. China was the last major jurisdiction to unground the B737 MAX.

Frustrated by Chinese hesitancy to resume taking deliveries of new B737 MAX jets, Boeing said last year that it would start to remarket some of the aircraft initially earmarked for Chinese customers. The manufacturer is also lobbying the White House to seek assistance in reestablishing sales in China.

The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows that besides China Southern and China Eastern, the following Chinese airlines took delivery of B737-8s before the March 2019 grounding:

Air China (16),

Hainan Airlines (11),

Shanghai Airlines (11),

Xiamen Airlines (10),

Shandong Airlines (seven),

Shenzhen Airlines (five),

Lucky Air (China) (three),

Fuzhou Airlines (two),

Kunming Airlines (two), and

9 Air (one).

In early March, Hong Kong's Greater Bay Airlines ordered fifteen B737-8s. However, as a Chinese Special Administrative Region (SAR), Hong Kong has an independent aviation regulator and a largely autonomous trade policy.
CH Aviation

Airbus announces large Chinese A320neo-family order

Airbus has announced that it has secured a large order for the A320neo-family from Chinese airlines, which always order in bulk. In total, the manufacturer has sold 292 A320neo-family aircraft to four different Chinese airlines. Air China has ordered 64 aircraft, and also signed-up for 32 for its subsidiairy Shenzhen Airlines. China Eastern has ordered 100 A320neo-family aircraft, while China Southern is ordering 96.

The Chinese airlines will use the additional aircraft to renew the fleet and increase capacity. In a stock exchange filing, China Southern Airlines has mentioned that their new Airbuses will be used to cover for the removal of 100 B737MAXs in their fleet plan and that the airline has decided to scrap the deliveries of these aircraft due to the uncertain delivery timeframes. Deliveries for the new A320neos is to begin in 2024 with 30 aircraft, 40 in 2025, nineteen in 2026 and the final seven in 2027.

Photo:Jay Lee - Guangzhou

1st passenger A319neos delivered

 The first two passenger A319neo aircraft have been delivered. B-328A (10239) and B-328C (10288) were both delivered to China Southern Airlines and ferried from Hamburg-Finkenwerder to China. Both aircraft are equipped with CFM LEAP -1A engines and have a passenger cabin with 132 economy seats and four business seats. Airbus has already delivered four A319neo Corporate Jets.

The A319neo is the slowest selling variant of the Airbus A320neo-family. As of mid-February 2022, Airbus has only sold 63 pax versions of the A319neo and eight A319neo Corporate Jets. The two aircraft delivered today, are the only A319neos China Southern Airlines has ordered. Other airlines which have ordered the pax version of the A319neo are Spirit Airlines (31 aircraft on order) and Air Cote d’Ivoire (Two aircraft on order). 28 A319neos have been ordered by “unannounced commercial operators”
Scramble
Photo by Airbus

CHINA SOUTHERN - B777-300ER - B-2002 (China Intl Import Expo c_s)

Ton Jochems