China Southern Airlines' A380s to spearhead its efforts to expand internationally

China Southern Airlines head of planning Yang Bo stated the carrier's A380 equipment will spearhead the airline's efforts to more than double the percentage of capacity deployed on overseas routes to 35% by 2015. In an interview with Bloomberg he said the A380, the first of five which will be delviered to the carrier in Oct-2011 will "put us in a completely different league" and will be used to boost its brand image and raise its international profile. The carrier will initially operate the aircraft domestically, from 18-Oct-2011 to 28-Oct-2011, on routes between Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou to test operations and promote the aircraft before moving the aircraft to international routes.