✈️Flight Review: Budapest to Tokyo in Economy with China Southern Airlines (Boeing 787 & Airbus A321neo)

Disclaimer: To ensure an authentic review, we purchased our tickets at full price. The airline was not informed that a review would be published.

Read also our China Eastern flight review >>

Budapest – Guangzhou (Economy Class)

Scheduled Departure: 11:45; Scheduled Arrival: 05:50 (+1 day); Estimated Duration: 11h05m – Aircraft: Boeing 787-9

Check-in at Budapest Airport

China Southern Airlines operates from Terminal 2 at Budapest Airport. Although seat selection was included in my basic fare, the airline’s website was unintuitive — I had to enroll in their frequent flyer program to access seat selection. Because of this inconvenience and the fact I had checked baggage (also included, with an allowance of two checked bags), I decided to check in at the airport counter.

Arriving approximately two and a half hours before departure, I found six available check-in counters: one for Premium/Business Class, one for Premium Economy, and four for Economy passengers. Thanks to this arrangement, the process was swift. With eight people ahead of me, it took less than ten minutes to drop off my luggage and receive boarding passes.

Budapest Airport is modern, efficient, and easy to navigate. No issues to note.

Boarding in Budapest

Boarding at gate B28 began slightly earlier than scheduled. Priority was given first to premium passengers, families with small children, and other priority groups, followed by general boarding. After scanning boarding passes, we were directed into a second waiting area before boarding the aircraft roughly 10 minutes later.

China Southern Airlines flight CZ 650:

China Southern’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner has a 3-3-3 seating layout in Economy Class. Seats were simple yet comfortable and modern, though somewhat narrow. The reclining angle was pretty standard, so no complaints in this department. Each seat had a pillow, blanket, and headphones waiting. Unfortunately, seat amenities lacked double-folding trays and multi-compartment seat pockets.

Legroom was good, with 32 inches of space. Notably, there are two power outlets for every three seats and, importantly, a footrest, which is rare in Economy Class nowadays and, in my opinion, significantly enhances passenger comfort.

Inflight entertainment (IFE) is often criticized on Chinese airlines, but China Southern exceeded expectations.

The screen is large, high-definition, responsive, and an extensive selection of recent international movies is offered. However, WiFi was not complimentary and my repeated attempts to purchase access failed due to payment page errors.

Flight CSN650 of China Southern Airlines took off from Budapest Airport at 11:56 — 11 minutes behind schedule.

About one hour after takeoff, meal service began. Flight attendants first served drinks to each passenger, followed by meal trays. There were two options: braised beef with rice or breaded chicken with potatoes. The meal also included a salad, fruit, bread, butter, a sweet biscuit, and juice. The main course was ok. The quality was average — adequate but not remarkable. The quite “not great, not terrible” comes to mind.

The crew then offered another round of drinks. A notable highlight was the exceptionally efficient meal service. From the first drink to tray removal took approximately 25 minutes, and trays were promptly collected within five minutes after finishing. It was the fastest and most efficient meal service I’ve experienced in Economy Class.

Cabin lights were then dimmed, and window shades lowered for rest. The flight proceeded smoothly.

About 2 hours and 45 minutes before landing, a second full meal was served. Contrasting the typical European airlines, which offer a full meal service and a snack on long-haul flights, China Southern provides two full meal services. The choices were beef noodles or shrimp with rice. I selected shrimp, finding it decent but similar in quality to the earlier meal. Again, service speed and efficiency were exemplary, as my tray was never on the table longer than 5 minutes.

After the second meal service, time to watch a movie until landing. China Southern Airlines flight CZ 650 landed in Guangzhou at 05:20, 20 minutes ahead of the scheduled arrival time.

Transit in Guangzhou:

I had 2h:20m to connect in Guangzhou. I was more than enough. The airport is modern, straightforward, and well-signposted, with numerous shops and free WiFi kiosks. Transiting was effortless. The document check for transit in China – that some of our followers said it could be very slow – took around 8 minutes, including the time spent in line. After the document check, finding the connecting flight gate was quite simple.

Guangzhou – Tokyo Narita, Economy

Scheduled Departure Time: 08:10; ETA: 13:10; Estimated Flight Time: 4h – Airbus A321neo

Boarding in Guangzhou

Boarding was via bus to a remote stand, departing approximately on schedule. The boarding process mirrored Budapest, with priority groups first, followed by Economy Class passengers without further segmentation. The bus ride from the gate to aircraft was notably long.

China Southern Airlines flight CZ 8101:

The A321neo had a 3-3 configuration in Economy Class. The seats were comfortable but basic. Legroom was ok, but a bit more narrow than the Boeing 787, which is normal since this A321 is clearly configured for regional flights. No IFE were available. Entertainment was accessible via WiFi, though the content selection was significantly smaller than on the 787.

The flight departed at 08:16, 6 minutes after the scheduled time. Approximately 50 minutes after departure, a meal was served, similar to the one I had on the Budapest-Guangzhou flight. There were two options: chicken with rice or pork with rice. Only pork remained by the time my turn came, and it proved surprisingly good — better than on the previous segment. Together with the main course, the airline offered a potato salad, a pretty good noodle salad, a bread roll, butter and fruit. Once again, the crew delivered efficient service.

The Airbus A321neo landed in Tokyo Narita Airport at 13:04, 6 minutes ahead of schedule, with a total flight time of 3 hours and 48 minutes.

Summary and Verdict:

The primary reason for writing this article was essentially the extremely competitive prices offered by China Southern on routes from Budapest and other European cities to numerous destinations across Asia and Oceania. These low prices sparked discussions on our social media channels, with many users expressing concerns that Chinese airlines often lack the quality and standard amenities usually offered by European and Gulf carriers. While we do not dispute that this might be the case with other Chinese airlines, our direct experience with China Southern Airlines paints a far more positive picture. Despite minor issues — such as an unintuitive website and failed WiFi connectivity — the overall experience exceeded expectations. We encountered no significant issues with either the hard or soft product. In fact, we’d even go as far as to say that China Southern’s product onboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliner matches the average standard offered by European airlines. Considering China Southern’s highly competitive fares, we would not hesitate to fly with them again.