Airbus Updates No.3851

China Southern ends A380-operations

On 6 November 2022, China Southern conducted its final Airbus A380-flight and has now officially ended operations with the type. The final flight was carried out by A380 B-6139 (088), which flew as CZ328 from Los Angeles (CA) to Guangzhou. The semi-final flight was carried out on 4 November 2022 by B-6140 (120), when it flew as CZ308 from Amsterdam to Guangzhou.

The retirement of the A380 doesn't come as a surprise, as it was already announced in February of this year.

The airline has operated the A380 for just eleven years, after welcoming its first aircraft on 12 October 2011. In total, China Southern Airlines had a fleet of five A380s, which are now currently at:

• B-6136 (031), parked at Mojave (CA) since 24 February 2022
• B-6137 (036), parked at Mojave (CA) since 24 February 2022
• B-6138 (054), parked at Guangzhou since 12 October 2022
• B-6139 (088), parked at Guangzhou since 7 November 2022
• B-6140 (120), parked at Guangzhou since 5 November 2022

It's expected that the final three A380s that are currently at Guangzhou will join the other two for storage in the US soon.

Airbus Updates No.3730

 

Airbus awarded new orders in China

Beijing, 1 July 2022 - Airbus confirms the signature of orders with Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, and Shenzhen Airlines for a total of 292 A320 Family aircraft, demonstrating the positive recovery momentum and prosperous outlook for the Chinese aviation market. Once the relevant criteria are met, these orders will enter the backlog.

“These new orders demonstrate the strong confidence in Airbus from our customers. It is also a solid endorsement from our airline customers in China of the performance, quality, fuel efficiency and sustainability of the world's leading family of single aisle aircraft.” said Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of International. “We commend the excellent work by George Xu and the entire Airbus China team as well as our customers’ teams for having brought to conclusion these long and extensive discussions that have taken place throughout the difficult COVID pandemic.” 

By the end of May 2022, the in-service Airbus fleet with Chinese operators totalled over 2,070 aircraft.

The A320neo Family incorporates new generation engines and Sharklets, which together deliver at least 20 percent fuel and CO2 savings, as well as a 50 percent noise reduction. The A320neo Family offers unmatched comfort in all classes and Airbus’ 18-inch wide seats in economy as standard.

 At the end of May 2022 the A320neo Family had totalled more than 8,000 orders from over 130 customers. Since its Entry into Service six years ago, Airbus has delivered over 2,200 A320neo Family aircraft contributing to 15 million tons of CO2 saving.

Airbus Updates No.3794

 

China Southern Airlines to retire A380s by YE22

China Southern A380-800© China Southern

01.03.2022 - 14:31 UTC

China Southern Airlines (CZ, Guangzhou) is set to retire all of its remaining A380-800s by the end of 2022, Chinese media has reported.

The Chinese carrier owns and operates five A380s, which are 10.3 years old on average, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows. The first two, B-6136 (msn 31) and B-6137 (msn 36), were retired from revenue service in late October and early November 2021, respectively. On February 24, both aircraft were ferried from Guangzhou via Victorville to Mojave for storage, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. For the time being, the other three remain in active service, although each of them operates only every few days. The type is deployed to Amsterdam Schiphol, London Heathrow, Los Angeles Int'l, Sydney Kingsford Smith, and Melbourne Tullamarine, the ch-aviation schedules module indicates.

China Southern Airlines is the only A380 operator in China. It stood out during the COVID-19 pandemic as it has never fully grounded the type, although its utilisation was minimal. In April 2021, as other airlines were revealing plans to reactivate their A380s, the Chinese airline was much more hesitant to commit to their long-term operation.

Once the A380s are retired, China Southern Airlines' largest widebody aircraft type by passenger capacity will be the B777-300(ER)s, seating up to 361 passengers each. Its A380s can seat up to 506 passengers each. The airline never operated B747s in passenger configuration, although it does have two B747-400(FSCD)s.

Airbus Updates No.3784

 

China Southern adds first A319neo

China Southern A319neo© China Southern

21.02.2022 - 01:33 UTC

As the type's launch operator, China Southern Airlines (CZ, Guangzhou) took delivery of its first A319-100Ns on February 19 with B-328A (msn 10239) and B-328C (msn 10288) arriving at Guangzhou from Hamburg Finkenwerder via Nur-Sultan Nazarbayev.

A press release said the two aircraft are powered by CFM International LEAP-1As and feature 136 seats in total - four in business class, 24 in pearl economy class, and 108 in economy. They will both undergo further preparation ahead of their service entry in July this year. Given their operational performance, the A319neo will be deployed on flights to hot-and-high airports i.e. those above 2,438 metres ASL.

According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, China Southern currently operates nine A319-100s, a far cry from the 40+ it used to operate between 2009 and 2014, since which the number has gradually diminished. It also operates 107 in-house A320-200s, thirty-nine A321-200s, twenty-eight A321-200Ns, and twenty-three A321-200NXs. Boeing-wise, it employs twenty B737-700s, eighty-eight B737-800s, and twenty-four B737-8s (still inactive)

Airbus Updates No.3332

 

Qantas, BA eye A380 return, China Southern cautious

China Southern A380-800© China Southern

15.04.2021 - 23:26 UTC

British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) and Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) have said they expect their respective A380-800s to return to service going forward, while China Southern Airlines (CZ, Guangzhou) expressed a more reserved stance, indicating it would "review" the quadjet's future role.

Speaking during a CAPA Live webinar, British Airways' chief executive Sean Doyle stressed that gis carrier had a number of routes where the A380 was still a perfect fit.

"We can fly it to many destinations, we flew it to places like Hong Kong Int'l and Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, it worked well in the markets like Boston. Even in the East Coast and Miami Int'l, we found that the A380 worked very well," he said.

However, Doyle underlined that the aircraft would not be reactivated until demand rebounds to the requisite level which, he estimated, could happen in 2023 or 2024. According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, British Airways operates twelve A380-800s, which are seven years old on average. Eleven units are owned by the carrier and the last one dry-leased from AerCap. Currently, six are stored at Madrid Barajas with three each at Doha Hamad Int'l and Teruel airports. British Airways has been performing regular maintenance on the aircraft throughout the pandemic.

Australia's Qantas also plans to reactivate all of its twelve A380-800s in due course.

"We think we will reactivate all of the A380s. We spent a lot of money on them. Once demand is there, they’re going to be good aircraft," Chief Executive Alan Joyce said.

He agreed with Doyle concerning the timing of the double-deckers' return, indicating that demand for international travel would most likely only return to a sufficient level in 2024. However, he stressed that Qantas would need up to six months' notice to reactivate the A380s and could do it earlier, demand permitting.

Qantas owns all of its A380-800s. They are 11.7 years old on average and are all stored in California - ten at Victorville and two at Los Angeles Int'l.

In turn, China Southern Airlines' Senior Vice President (International & Corporate Relations) Wu Guoxiang was more reserved, suggesting the A380s' future at the airline was still up for discussion. It currently operates five owned A380-800s, which are 9.5 years old on average. It is the only of the three airlines which actively deploys the aircraft in revenue service.

"Maybe it is too large for the route and its operating cost is very high. It is still in our consideration how we solve this problem," Wu said.