China Southern Airlines Co.’s focus on domestic flights made it Asia’s largest carrier by passengers. Now, it’s adding Airbus SAS A380s to help challenge Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. and Singapore Airlines Ltd. on routes to Europe and North America.

The carrier, which flew 76.5 million passengers last year, will begin flying the first of five superjumbos next month. It will be the seventh operator worldwide and the only one in China. The double-decker planes will spearhead the state-controlled company’s drive to more than double the percentage of capacity deployed on overseas routes to 35 percent by 2015, said Yang Bo, the head of its planning department.

“Flying A380s will put us in a completely different league,” he said, declining to name routes for the 506-seat aircraft before a Sept. 20 event. “We hope to use the planes to build a good brand image and to raise our profile overseas.” 

(Bloomberg)