A Look Inside China Southern’s First Airbus A350-900

It's been about a month since China Southern's first A350 entered service and photos of its interior have finally surfaced. Along with the launch of a new aircraft type for the airline comes the introduction of completely new business class, premium economy and economy seats.

Up front, the business class cabin offers 28 seats in a 1-2-1 configuration. It sports Recaro’s CL6710 seat, which is the same model you’ll find in business class on El Al’s Dreamliners and TAP Portugal's A330neo.

While the blue leather seats, beige plastic and light “wood” trim color scheme leave a lot to be desired, the seats themselves should be a slight improvement over China Southern’s current product. The seats resemble a reverse-herringbone design similar to what's found on airlines such as Cathay Pacific and EVA Air, but with the seat position alternating between rows. Each seat offers direct aisle access.

Premium economy features Recaro's PL3530 seat. There are 24 seats are arranged in a 2-4-2 configuration. Each offers 38 inches of pitch, an adjustable leg rest and foot rest.

The back of the plane is fitted with an industry-standard 3-3-3 configuration. Coach seats are the same Recaro CL3710 seats you'll find in coach on Delta's A350, which receives high marks from TPG's Alberto Riva. The seats feature new, larger in-flight entertainment screens and USB ports.

China Southern is initially flying the A350 between Beijing (PEK) and Guangzhou (CAN) before deploying it on long-haul trans-Pacific flights. The airline has 19 more of these planes on order, which they expect to take delivery through 2022. As of now, there are no plans to retrofit existing planes with these seats.

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