Tag Archives: msn 318

China Southern Airlines takes delivery of its first Airbus A350-900

China Southern Airlines has taken delivery of its first of 20 Airbus A350-900s, becoming the newest operator of this latest generation and highly efficient twin-engine, long-range wide-body aircraft. The Guangzhou-based carrier operates an Airbus fleet of 335 aircraft, including 282 A320 Family aircraft, 48 A330 Family aircraft and five A380 aircraft (figures at the end of May 2019).

China Southern’s A350-900 aircraft features a modern and comfortable three-class cabin layout of 314 seats: 28 business, 24 premium economy and 262 economy. The airline will initially operate the new aircraft on its domestic routes from Guangzhou to Shanghai and Beijing, followed by flights to international destinations.

At the end of May 2019, the A350 XWB Family had received 893 firm orders from 51 customers worldwide, making it one of the most successful wide-body aircraft ever.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by Airbus): China Southern Airlines Airbus A350-941 F-WZGP (B-308T) (msn 318) TLS (Eurospot). Image: 946674.

China Southern aircraft slide show:

PAL to upgrade Brisbane to nonstop flights, will drop Darwin

Philippine Airlines (Manila) will begin operating direct nonstop flights between Manila and Brisbane from March 27, giving passengers the convenience of a shorter flying time of less than seven (7) hours, compared to the current one-stop service of 9 hours 20 minutes with a stopover in Darwin.

The Manila – Brisbane nonstop flights will operate four times weekly, utilizing the 254-seat Airbus A340 aircraft initially, and PAL’s brand new Airbus A321neo aircraft later in the first half of 2018. The A321 NEO is the longer-range version of the popular A321, outfitted with full-flat business class seats and entertainment systems.

PR 221 leaves Manila at 11:30 PM every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and arrives in Brisbane at 9:20 AM local time the following day, every Thursday, Saturday Sunday. Return flight PR 222 departs Brisbane at 11 AM local time (Th/Sa/Su) and touches down in Manila at 5 PM on the same day.

Effective May 1, PAL will operate the fourth weekly frequency every Tuesday. Flight PR221 leaves Manila at 12:55 AM (Tue) and arrives in Brisbane at 10:45 AM local time on the same day. Return flight PR222 departs Brisbane at 12 NN local time (Tue) and touches down in Manila at 6 PM on the same day.

In 2017 alone, the flag carrier launched nonstop flights to Toronto (Canada), Auckland (New Zealand), Doha (Qatar), Kuwait City (Kuwait) and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) by eliminating the en route stopovers in Vancouver, Cairns, Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively.

With the removal of the Darwin stopover by March 25, PAL will temporarily suspend its flights to Darwin, considering that a stand-alone Manila-Darwin service would be uneconomically sustainable. The airline will revisit this decision in the near future as market conditions improve.

In the meantime, PAL will continue expansion to other key Australia destinations as it assigns more of the new A321neos and the new-cabin Airbus A330s to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Philippines aircraft slide show: