China Southern Airlines - SkyTeam's newest member

The Sky Pearl Club is China Southern Airlines frequent flyer program and the largest airline loyalty program in China.
China Southern Airlines is changing the original transpacific flight schedule that it has operated for the last 10 years between Los Angeles/Guangzhou/Los Angeles CZ328 / CZ327.
State-owned China Southern Air Holding Co, parent of China Southern Airlines Co Ltd (SHA 600029; HK 1055; NYSE ZNH), had a record pretax profit of nearly three bln yuan in 2007, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
New hotels joining the Sky Pearl Club include: Langham Hotels International, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Jinling Hotels & Resorts and the Guangzhou Garden Hotel with all-new promotions including:
Langham Hotels International: Each qualifying stay earns 1,000 mileage; Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group: Each qualifying stay earns 800 mileage; Jinling Hotels & Resorts Jinling Hotel: Each qualifying stay earns 400-800 Mileage; Jin's Inn: Each qualifying stay earn 100 mileage; Guangzhou Garden Hotel: Each qualifying stay earns 800 mileage.
HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) - China Southern Airlines, the country's largest carrier, said it had 4.7 mln passengers in November, up 14.8 pct year-on-year.
The company carried 52.48 mln passengers in the first 11 months, up 15.3 pct year-on-year.
Quoting general manager Liu Shaoyong, the report said that the parent company's total revenue for 2007 increased 13.6 pct to over 50 bln yuan.
In a statement published on its website, the company said it carried 789,800 tons of cargo in the first 11 months, up 5.9 pct, and 77,790 tons of cargo in November, up 7.8 pct.
It carried 56.74 mln passengers and 863,000 tons of cargo in 2007, up 15.3 pct and 5.4 pct from a year earlier, respectively.
China Southern Airlines, the listed unit, swung to a net profit of 118 mln yuan in 2006 from a net loss of 1.794 bln a year earlier, as passenger traffic increased.
Passenger load factor was 76.4 last month, up 5.2 pct points from a year earlier, while overall load factor was 68.0 pct, up 3.7 percentage points in November, China Southern said.

Stella Huang is the author of “Air China Article