China Southern Airlines (ZNH) has expanded its fleet to 12 aircraft following the delivery of two new Airbus A350-900s.
Delivered from Airbus’ headquarters in Toulouse, France on December 29, 2021 , the two aircraft, registered B-324R and B-324S, will be the airline’s 11th and 12th Airbus A350s. The Guangzhou-based carrier received is first A350 XWB in June 2019 from an initial order of 20 aircraft.
The aircraft were spotted performing a ‘wing wave’ during their departure from Toulouse.
Two Airbus A350 delivered this morning at Toulouse, both performed a wing wave. MSN478 to #ChinaSouthern and MSN516 to #Finnair @Finnair @ChinaSouthernEU #Airbus #A350 #Toulouse #AvGeek @A350_Production @TLSWatch pic.twitter.com/bMO40JKepA
— Eurospot (@cliper31) December 29, 2021
The A350 is highly favored among China’s airlines for both domestic and international flights. This includes A350 orders from the big three, China Eastern Airlines (CIAH) (CEA) (15), China Southern Airlines (ZNH) (8) and Air China (30), as well as giants such as China Airlines (14), Cathay Pacific (46), and Sichuan Airlines (10).
The aircraft, which are waiting for their import paperwork to be completed, are currently parked at China Southern’s hub at Guangzhou’s Baiyun International Airport. They are expected to operate from Shenzhen on domestic routes to Shanghai and Beijing due to international travel restrictions in and out of China, according to reports from airlinegeeks.
In an announcement from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on October 29, 2021, international passenger flights to and from China were restricted to 408 flights per week between October 31, 2021 and March 26, 2022. This is roughly a 21% reduction from the same period in 2020.
China Southern’s A350 fleet could also operate on the carrier’s Australian routes to Auckland and Melbourne. This will most likely be in 2022.
