We planned a backpacking trip to Australia where we visited the two main cities of Sydney and Melbourne, staying for 3-4 days in each. We had been planning for almost a year, doing our own research from obtaining visas, to planning our itinerary, booking hotels, and finding flights. Eventually, we decided to fly with China Southern Airlines, a large airline based in Guangzhou, offering full-service flights at a very affordable price (cheaper than direct flights). However, we had to transfer planes in Guangzhou, but it was worth it for us.

As for our flight, we chose to land in Sydney, transferring planes once in Guangzhou as mentioned before. Here are the details of our flights:

ROUTE          : BANGKOK (BKK) – GUANGZHOU (CAN)
FLIGHT        : CZ358 – CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINE
AIRCRAFT    : AIRBUS A321
DATE             : 12.05.2018
ETD               : 11:55AM (GMT+7)
ETA               : 03:30PM (GMT+8)
DURATION  : 2 HOURS 35 MINUTES
CABIN          : ECONOMY

————- LAYOVER 6 HOURS —————

ROUTE          : GUANGZHOU (CAN) – SYDNEY (SYD)
FLIGHT         : CZ325 – CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINE
AIRCRAFT    : AIRBUS A330
DATE             : 12.05.2018
ETD              : 09:30PM (GMT+8)
ETA               : 08:55AM +1  (GMT+10)
DURATION      : 9 HOURS 25 MINUTES
CABIN           : ECONOMY

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We arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport around 9:00 AM (3 hours before the actual flight) to check in and get our boarding passes at the China Southern Airlines counter located at row U. The queue was already long with passengers waiting before the counter even opened. Seeing the situation, I quickly joined the queue because I had tried to check-in online but was unsuccessful. The system had instructed me to contact the airport counter, leaving me with no other choice.

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After waiting in line for an hour, we finally checked in and received our boarding passes. We were relieved to find out that we didn’t have to check in again at Guangzhou and our luggage was checked through to Sydney. Once we arrived in Sydney, we simply had to pick up our bags and head out. Our flight was at Gate E-10, which happened to be the furthest one away – but we made it just in time! 😛

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After passing through the security check and immigration checkpoint, we had about an hour to spare. So, we grabbed a bite to eat before heading to Gate E-10. We arrived at the gate about a 40-minute before flight time. By the time we arrived, the “Final Call” signed had already been appeared, but in reality, boarding hadn’t started yet.

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Our Airbus A321 had been waiting us at the gate already. 🙂

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We sat for 10 minutes and used the toilet, then, the boarding was started. It was On-Time !

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The seats were arranged in a 3-3 configuration in the single-aisle economy class, typical of narrow-body aircraft. Today, the plane appeared to be full with passengers, judging by the looks of it.

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As someone who is 183 cm tall, I didn’t have much room to move around in my seat (if someone of larger stature, like a Westerner, were to sit, it might feel quite cramped). However, there wasn’t much to worry about as this flight was only a little over 2 hours. As for the seat-back document storage, it was positioned higher than eye level, which made the seat appear wider. There was only one safety card in English, while all the magazines were in Chinese.

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After all passengers boarded, the aircraft pushed back and took off on time without delay. Once the plane was in cruising level, the seat belt sign was turned off, and I began to explore the facilities on board, starting with the lavatories. Overall, they were clean and the equipment was up to standard.

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After that, the staff began to offer soft drinks first, and we ordered a coke and a glass of tomato juice each.

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After that, they started serving hot meals, and the staff began walking down the aisle to serve without asking what we wanted. We understood that this flight had only one menu, which was stir-fried fish with ginger served on rice. I realized that it was made by the kitchen in Thailand, as the dessert and butter came with Thai labels. The taste was simply delicious, and we enjoyed it very much.

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After that, we relaxed and enjoyed the view for another hour or so. The plane then descended and landed at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, where we were directed to disembark via a bus gate instead of an air bridge gate.

After entering the terminal, we followed the signs pointing towards International Transfer since we were connecting to another flight without a Chinese visa.

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Before proceeding to the security screening process, we had to go through the airline’s officer and have our boarding passes checked (not checked-in) before boarding the plane. The counter is located before the security checkpoint.

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After passing through the Security screening process, we checked the screen to see which gate our flight to Sydney would depart from. The airport here was huge and had many gates. If you want to walk around or grab some food, you should allocate extra time to avoid missing your flight. But we had about 5 hours, so we were relaxed and not worried. We looked around at the different shops, washed our faces, and chilled before boarding the plane. 🙂

Our flight to Sydney today would depart from gate A-105, which is located near the end of the terminal exit.

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The boarding was started 45 minutes prior flight time.

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When we boarded the A330 aircraft, we chose seats by the window in the 2-4-2 Economy Class configuration. The seats were spacious (I think wider than Thai Airways) with plenty of legroom. For long flights like this, China Southern Airlines provided pillows and blankets for all seats, and the in-flight entertainment was good with PTV and headphones. The selection of movies and music was quite up-to-date, but the devices were a bit slow to respond, like almost full memory on a tablet (but it didn’t matter much as we ate and slept a lot after boarding the plane, so we were ready to explore Sydney upon arrival at dawn). 😛

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After all the passengers were loaded, the plane pushed back and took off almost 15 minutes ahead of schedule. Once the plane was airborne, I began to explore and check out the lavatory. Overall, it was similar to the flight from Bangkok to Guangzhou, except they had some purfume to freshen up. It was quite clean and well-maintained.

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Shortly, the flight attendants began serving the first meal, which was dinner. There were two options to choose from, Chinese-style (stir-fried pork with soy sauce and rice) and Western-style (roast chicken with potatoes). We decided to try both and share with my travel companion. The taste was pretty good, and we enjoyed.

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Then, when our stomachs were full, we settled into a routine of sleeping and waking up intermittently. Some slept for 4-5 hours. Two hours before landing, the cabin lights turned on, and we were served breakfast. Just like before, there were two options: Chinese (steamed buns, dim sum, and rice porridge) and Western (omelet and hash browns). We ordered one of each to try and share, just like we did for dinner.

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After we had finished our breakfast, the sun began to rise, and we could see the land of Australia in the distance. It was an exciting moment!

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As the plane approached Sydney airport (observed from the PTV screen), the captain circled the plane once, thinking it was because the landing was not cleared yet. Then the plane descended and landed safely to Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport. Along the way, we passed by the local Qantas. Despite the delay, we arrived at our destination about 30 minutes late (but we departed from Guangzhou ahead of schedule).

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After we disembarked, we walked through the airport to go through the immigration process (we noticed that the Standing sign had Thai language too).

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After clearing Australian immigration, we went to collect our luggage at carousel 11 as announced on the screen. That marked the completion of our journey from Bangkok to the land of Kangaroo, and it was time to explore Sydney according to our planned itinerary. Welcome to Australia !

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Overall, we thought that the airline’s service was quite impressive in terms of service, food, and comfort. The only downside was that our flight arrived a bit late, but it was beyond their control. Flying with this airline to Australia is definitely a worthwhile option for those who want to travel in full service and at a comfortable price.

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Written by : SHIPY SIWARIT TIASUWATTISETH

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