Winston Aldworth flies aboard China Southern's CZ306, from Auckland to Guangzhou.
The plane: A Dreamliner. China Southern sends two a day into Auckland. They also have a daily service out of Christchurch.
Class: Premium Economy.
Price: For years, when people have asked me the best way to get to Europe,I've recommended they check out China Southern's prices. This was my first chance to experience the service. It's fair to say they ace it on longhaul fares — one recent sale had Business Class return to Amsterdam for less than $3500. You can get to Guangzhou in Economy for around $1000 return and Premium Economy for less than $2000.
Seat: I was right at the back of the Premium Economy section, with my kids and fiance. The middle four in a 2-4-2 set up.
How full: There were half a dozen empty seats dotted around our cabin, including two across the aisle from us, which I commandeered late in the flight in an optimistic attempt to get some serious shut eye. Economy was chocker.
Fellow passengers: We were heading up there just before Chinese New Year, so there were plenty of Chinese on board. Not many Westerners taking advantage of those terrific prices. Wake up, sheeple.
Entertainment: There's an impressive range of movies — including a couple that were feature hits in last year's New Zealand International Film Festival (like the excellent Good Times). I watched Suburbicon and something forgettable.
Food and drink: For dinner service, we went for a mix of chicken and rice, and seafood and rice. The chicken was reasonable plane-cabin fare. On the western side of the menu, a pasta with rich tomato-and-beef sauce did the job for the fussy-eating child. Warning for drinkers: The staff will pour a short measure of wine unless you point out and ask for the bigger glass. At breakfast time, there was a passable omelette, but the smarter option was the Chinese breakfast, a serving of seriously good dim sum.
The service: There were occasional language barriers, but nothing insurmountable.
Toilets: I do a lot of wandering on overnight longhaul flights and rarely have seen busier toilet cleaning. Commendable.
The final word: A great way to say "ni hao!" to Guangzhou.
