China Southern 787 Premium Economy — Worth It?
A comfortable upgrade over economy, though inconsistent service and inoperative tech limit the experience.
Chinese Airlines don’t leave much to the imagination when it comes to their names. China Southern operates out of its southerly Guangzhou Baiyun hub, and China Eastern operates out of the easterly Shanghai Pudong. Wouldn’t it be nice if everything in life were this straightforward?
Something that unfortunately isn’t straightforward is selecting what cabin to sit in on China Southern. You could splurge for Business Class or save money with Economy Class. If neither of those options suits your fancy, you could choose to sit in Premium Economy, a cabin often shrouded in mystery. These seats offer a notable upgrade over Economy, though they remain inferior to Business.
Join me as I review China Southern’s 787-9 in Premium Economy on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Guangzhou.
Flight Information
Airline: China Southern Airlines
Flight #: CZ 350
Route: Kuala Lumpur (KUL) 🇲🇾 — Guangzhou (CAN) 🇨🇳
Seat: 27A (Premium Economy)
Date: January 2026
Duration: 3hr 48min (1,624 mi)
Aircraft: 787-9 (B-1168) (7 years old)
Price I Paid: MYR 991 (247$) (One Way)
Kuala Lumpur Ground Experience
Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is a little confusing for first-timers. There are technically two airports on one site, the main KLIA (full service carriers) and KLIA 2 (low cost carriers). China Southern flights depart from the former. KLIA is certainly not a bad airport, but it's also not one of those ones that blows you away with its architecture or design. I personally find the check-in area to be a bit dark.
I arrived roughly two hours before departure to find a small line at China Southern check-in. There was an economy and business/priority queue with no indication of where premium economy should go. I ended up going through the economy line, which took about 10 minutes.
The agent weighed my suitcase to ensure it was under the limit, and after finding out it was overweight, she told me it would need to be checked. However, once I handed over my onward ticket out of China (which needed verification for transit visa purposes), she noticed I had a short transfer and graciously allowed me to keep my bag.
Passport Control was fairly quick, and I was soon met with a signature KLIA experience. The main airport has both a central and satellite terminal with a train ride required to get between them. The train itself is infamous for frequently not working and/or being down for maintenance. I had to take a bus from the satellite terminal when I arrived the previous night because the train was inoperative.
Luckily, the train was fully operational this afternoon, which was a welcome sight considering the buses require a lot more walking and are way less comfortable.
The satellite terminal is quite nice with lots of food and shopping options. The main attraction however, is the garden in the center, which brings some much-needed greenery into an otherwise stressful environment. After arriving by train, I headed straight to my gate, since China Southern premium economy passengers do not receive any sort of lounge access.
Boarding and Initial Impressions
Today’s flight departed from gate C35, where I was greeted with another KLIA Classic: Gate Security. Instead of screening passengers before they enter the terminal, Kuala Lumpur conducts security checks before letting passengers into each individual gate area. I’m a little mixed on security at the gate, but I generally find it to be more of a negative. You often have to arrive way earlier at the gate and you can’t bring any liquids you bought in the terminal onto the plane.
Once through, I was rewarded with stunning views of the 787-9 that would be taking us up to Guangzhou.
Boarding began 30 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time, with gate agents calling for priority passengers. There were no signs informing passengers about boarding groups. Similar to check-in, it was unclear when premium economy passengers were allowed to board. The priority boarding ended up turning into a free-for-all with 50-60 people walking into the boarding line. I ended up boarding alongside the mob, which was mostly economy class passengers. It was one of those every-man-for-himself boarding processes.
Editor’s Note 💡
There was pretty much no difference in the ground experience between Economy and Premium Economy. That isn't to say the ground experience was bad, just that it's no different from Economy.
I stepped on the plane and was given a nice greeting by several flight attendants at the door who pointed me toward my seat. China Southern's Premium Economy cabin was arranged in a 2-3-2 configuration and had a nice vibe created by the upbeat boarding music and bright cabin finishes.
The seats felt spacious and were a clear upgrade from regular Economy. Aside from the hair on the center table and some minimal signs of use, the cabin appeared clean and in good condition. In an era of airlines opting for muted colors, the bright blue and orange on the seat cushions was refreshing. The cabin was roughly half full for today's flight.
There was a pillow, blanket, pair of headphones, and a bottle of water already placed at my seat. The water was especially thoughtful since we all had to dump liquids before entering the gate area. The blanket was thin, but the pillow was nice and plush.
Some carriers do a quick Pre-Departure Beverage Service in premium economy, but China Southern opted not to. There also weren't any amenity kits provided, which I'd guess are reserved for long-haul flights.
The on-board safety officer walked through the cabin and made his presence known after boarding was complete. This is certainly one of the more unique elements of flying on a Chinese Airline that you won't see in many other parts of the world.
Seat Analysis
When it comes to Premium Economy, the star of the show is undoubtedly the seat. With 2 fewer seats in a row compared to economy, each passenger gets a wider space. Part of the extra width is taken up by a wide center armrest that doubles as a table-like surface, big enough for both passengers to use simultaneously as an armrest.
This center area also opens up to expose a narrow storage compartment and an A/C power outlet. Unfortunately, as is common with this seat type, the narrow pocket was filthy due to how difficult it is to clean.
One of the other major upgrades with these seats is legroom. The space was large and wasn't blocked by any sort of IFE box. There was also a footrest, which I find people either love or hate. I generally find it works best for shorter people (like me).
Storage at these seats was typical for premium economy. The under-seat storage area was large enough to fit my large backpack, but as expected, this dramatically reduced leg room. Unless your bag is small, I'd recommend storing it in the overhead bins so you can take advantage of the extra space. The seat back pocket was flexible and large enough to also provide some additional storage
Unfortunately for China Southern (and me), my in-flight entertainment screen did not work during the flight. Mine seemed to be stuck as no touch input or any of the remote control buttons did anything. This is a shame since the screens themselves looked large and bright.
The cherry on-top of this was the fact the Wi-Fi was also inaccessible due to a faulty verification pop-up, which required that I slide some sort of bar from one side of my phone screen to the other. The only problem is that the bar never loaded, preventing me from using the Wi-Fi portal. I tried this on multiple browsers and ensured I didn't have any VPN's active. No luck.
Main Meal Service
Service typically starts slower on Chinese carriers, since the crew remain seated for 20-30 minutes after takeoff. Once they were permitted to begin service, things started quickly with mini towels and drinks. The most impressive thing here was discovering that China Southern has some of the prettiest-looking cups in the sky. If bright pink paper cups are your jam, this might just be your airline.
I was delighted when I saw the crew returning shortly after with a meal cart. For a flight of this length, a full meal in Premium Economy was not a given, and I was glad to see China Southern include one. Not sure if it's just me, but I always gravitate toward ordering chicken on board planes...for some reason.
Premium Economy Menu 🍽️
• Chicken with Rice (my selection)
• Fish with Rice
My excitement about getting chicken dwindled slightly when I realized how small the portion was. This dish probably should be called Rice with Chicken due to the ratio between them. Nevertheless, the meal wasn't bad. The rice lacked flavor, but I'd take tasteless over a bad taste any day of the week. If you set the chicken aside, the rest of the tray was actually above average in food quantity. The meal was right about industry standard for this region of the world, and I was appreciative that China Southern did a full service on a sub-four-hour flight.
The crew provided multiple drink services throughout the meal and were quick to collect trays once passengers were finished. They were professional and delivered warm, but reserved, service.
Mid-Flight Experience
After the meal, I was exposed to another feature of these seats, which just happens to be both a great strength and weakness: seat recline.
These seats recline much farther then any economy seats, making them great for napping. However, the generous recline is all fun and games until the person in front of you does it too. The seats come back so far that its nearly impossible to get out of a window seat once the passengers in-front of you recline. Take note of the narrow space between the center table and the seat in front, as demonstrated by the photo below.
At one point during the flight, the crew came around and asked how I was charging my phone after they noticed it was plugged in. They were concerned I was using a power bank and were relieved to see me pull out my wall charger to prove I was charging 'legally,' since the use of power banks is prohibited on board China Southern.
Editor’s Note 💡
Power banks on planes have become a highly contentious issue due to an increase in in-flight incidents. Some airlines ask passengers to refrain from putting them in overhead bins, and others outright ban their use onboard. I recommend conforming to the rules, especially on Chinese airlines, since the crew walked around and checked how passengers were charging.
As my presumed reward for following the power bank rules, the crew came around and handed out candy. I felt a lot less special when I realized everyone received these, though they were still a fun pre-landing touch. My friend loosely translated these to read "throat lozenges."
Aside from the power bank enforcement, I didn't see the crew at all after the initial meal service. This was a little disappointing since we still had multiple hours left in the flight. Leftover trash from the meal service piled up and went uncollected until just before landing. The crew was professional and caring when they were present, but they were by no means proactive.
Final Verdict
China Southern's Premium Economy is not a world-class experience, nor is it one of the world's better Premium Economy cabins. However, if the price is right (and it often seems to be), I wouldn't hesitate to fly China Southern's Premium Economy again on board the 787. The soft product wasn't anything to write home about, but the hard product was strong and represented a substantial upgrade in comfort compared to economy. That being said, for those seeking to save money, economy on China Southern offers a similar experience for much less money.