China Southern Airlines

IATA CZ ICAO CSN China (People's Republic of) · SkyTeam · www.csair.com (opens in a new tab)

Powered chairs need the airline’s prior approval · carried free · 48 h notice.

Advance notice: 48hours before departure
Powered wheelchair: Conditional
Lithium, battery installed: Not published
Cost to carry: Free

Who to contact

Transcribed from the airline’s own pages, exactly as it labels them.

Phone

95539

China (domestic) — Customer Service Center / sales service hotline 95539
Phone

+86 20 86682000

International — Customer Service Center
Email

webmaster@csair.com

Disability service complaints (Americans with Disabilities Act channel)
Online form

Wheelchair Services request (English) (opens in a new tab)
Online form

Electric Wheelchair Check-in request (English) (opens in a new tab)
Online form

轮椅服务 — Wheelchair service request (Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab)
Online form

托运电动轮椅 — Electric wheelchair check-in request (Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab)

China Southern publishes no accessibility-only phone line. The 95539 hotline (domestic) and +86 20 86682000 (international), plus webmaster@csair.com, are the channels it names for complaints under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Passengers with a hearing impairment are told to book through a local CSAir sales office rather than by phone.

Read it from the source

Powered wheelchairs & batteries

The part that goes wrong. Battery chemistry and watt-hours decide whether your chair flies, and the rules differ depending on whether the battery can be removed.

Powered chairs accepted

Conditional

Electric wheelchairs are carried as checked baggage but appear on CSAir's list of items that "may be accepted as checked baggage only in accordance with CSN's regulations and with the consent of CSN". The consignment must be applied for at least 48 h ahead and is carried only after CSAir confirms; the chair must be delivered 2 hours before the ordinary check-in deadline and must comply with the dangerous goods rules.

Special Assistance — Sick and Disabled (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Baggage restrictions — items unacceptable as checked baggage / lithium battery rules (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Lithium-ion batteries

Yes

Lithium-battery wheelchairs and walking aids are accepted. The passenger must contact the operating carrier in advance with the battery type and the handling procedure for the aid, including how to insulate the battery. CSAir's 160 Wh ceiling for lithium devices explicitly excludes lithium-battery-powered wheelchairs ("锂电池驱动轮椅除外").

Baggage restrictions — items unacceptable as checked baggage / lithium battery rules (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 行李运输限制 — 电动轮椅及助行器锂电池规定 (Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 锂电池安全运输提示 — Lithium battery safe-carriage notice (Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Watt-hour cap — battery stays in the chair

Not published

No watt-hour cap is published for a battery that cannot be removed. "If the battery cannot be removed from the mobility aids or wheelchairs, it must be attached to the mobility aids or wheelchairs securely and disconnected from the electrical circuit", and the chair travels as checked baggage.

Watt-hour cap — battery removed into the cabin

300 Wh

"If the battery can be removed from the mobility aids, passenger(s) are responsible for dismantling and carrying [it] into the passenger cabin. The battery removed from the mobility aid must not exceed 300Wh."

Watt-hour cap — spare battery

300 Wh

"Each passenger shall only carry a maximum of one spare lithium battery not exceeding 300Wh or two spare batteries with each one not exceeding 160Wh." Spares must be hand-carried; spare batteries are banned from checked baggage.

Spare batteries permittedmaximum number under any published configuration

Either one spare wheelchair battery of up to 300 Wh or two spares of up to 160 Wh each, carried in the cabin.

Battery must be removed

Conditional

Only if the battery is removable: the passenger is responsible for dismantling it and hand-carrying it into the cabin. A battery that cannot be removed stays firmly attached to the chair with the electrical circuit disconnected, and the chair is checked.

Non-spillable batteriesgel, AGM, sealed lead-acid, dry cell

Not published

No rule for non-spillable (gel / AGM / sealed lead-acid / dry cell) wheelchair batteries is published on China Southern's special assistance or baggage-restriction pages.

Wet / spillable batteries

Not published

China Southern's published mobility-aid battery rules cover lithium batteries only. Nothing is published about spillable wet-cell wheelchair batteries — ask the 95539 Customer Service Center before travelling.

Terminal protection & immobilisation

Yes

The passenger must give CSAir the battery type and the aid's handling instructions, including how to insulate the battery. A non-removable battery must be firmly secured to the chair and disconnected from the electrical circuit. Spare lithium batteries must be in their original retail packaging, a plastic bag or a protective case, or have exposed terminals taped over.

Paperwork the airline wants

Yes

Bring to the airport: (a) the manuals for the wheelchair and its batteries, (b) any special tools needed to assemble it, and (c) for lithium-ion wheelchairs, UN-recognised test documents proving the battery meets Section 38.3, Part III of the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria. Wheelchair applicants also sign an "Application Form for Special Passengers" in triplicate.

Special Assistance — Sick and Disabled (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Special Assistance — General rules for special passengers (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Size limit for a powered chair

Not published

No maximum dimensions for an electric wheelchair are published; CSAir asks for the specifications in advance so it can check available space.

Special Assistance — Sick and Disabled (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Weight limit for a powered chair

Not published

No weight limit for electric wheelchairs is published.

Returned at the aircraft door

Yes

The same rule covers manual and battery-powered chairs: they "may be checked at the check-in counter or boarding gate, and claimed at the boarding gate or baggage claim area". Battery-powered chairs must be handed over 2 hours before the ordinary check-in deadline.

Special Assistance — Sick and Disabled (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Electric wheelchairs must be delivered 2 hours before the ordinary check-in deadline so that CSAir has time to arrange loading. They are listed among items accepted as checked baggage only with CSAir's consent.

Manual wheelchairs

Manual chairs accepted

Yes

Unfoldable and manual wheelchairs, walking sticks, crutches, walkers and other mobility aids are carried as checked baggage free of charge; passengers are asked to state their requirement at booking. Note that each flight has a quota of unescorted disabled passengers (2 on 51–100-seat aircraft up to 8 on 400+ seats) — lifted only on China–US routes.

Special Assistance — Sick and Disabled (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Folding chair may travel in the cabin

Yes

"If the flight on which you are traveling has more than 100 seats available, you can take your own manual foldable wheelchair with you." Cabin storage space is allocated first-come, first-served; if no storage facility or space is available the chair is checked as baggage free of charge. CSAir asks to be told the wheelchair's specifications in advance.

Special Assistance — Sick and Disabled (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

In-cabin stowage limit

Not published

No in-cabin stowage dimensions are published; cabin storage for a folding chair is offered first-come, first-served on aircraft with more than 100 seats.

Size limit for a checked manual chair

Not published

No wheelchair dimensions are published. CSAir asks passengers to inform it of the wheelchair's specifications in advance so it can say whether enough storage space is available.

Special Assistance — Sick and Disabled (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Weight limit for a manual chair

Not published

No weight limit for wheelchairs is published; CSAir asks passengers to notify their wheelchair specifications in advance so it can confirm whether space is available.

Special Assistance — Sick and Disabled (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Returned at the aircraft door

Yes

"The wheelchairs may be checked at the check-in counter or boarding gate, and claimed at the boarding gate or baggage claim area." A boarding lift is provided where the flight does not use a jet bridge and the passenger cannot use the stairs.

Special Assistance — Sick and Disabled (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Passengers needing wheelchair services must sign an "Application Form for Special Passengers" in triplicate. Special/assisted check-in must be done at the airport counter — online, SMS and kiosk check-in are not available to disabled passengers.

Booking & cost

Advance notice requiredhours before scheduled departure

48h

Requests must be made when reserving the seat and no later than 48 hours before departure for: checking an electric wheelchair, wheelchair-cabin (WCHC) or on-board wheelchair (WCOB), groups of disabled passengers, and service dogs. Stretcher requests need 72 hours. Carriage is confirmed only after CSAir accepts the application.

Special Assistance — Sick and Disabled (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

How to request assistance

Apply when booking and at least 48 h before departure via the Special Assistance Request page on csair.com, a CSAir ticket office, or the Customer Service Center on 95539 / +86 20 86682000; then check in 2 h before the normal check-in deadline

Disabled passengers can log in to the CSAir website and apply on the Special Assistance Request page, or contact a CSAir ticket office or the Customer Service Center. Special services are only offered on flights operated by CSAir itself — for connecting or codeshare segments apply to the operating carrier. Online/self-service check-in is not available; go to the airport counter.

Charge for carrying the aid

No fee

"Transporting wheelchairs for mobility impaired passengers is free of charge." Airport wheelchair assistance is also provided without additional fees, and a folding chair that cannot be stowed in the cabin is checked free of charge.

Special Assistance — Sick and Disabled (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Mobility devices carried free

Not published

China Southern does not publish a number of mobility devices carried free per passenger; it says aids will be "checked free of charge, with an additional out-of-list piece for the qualified disabled".

Special Assistance — Sick and Disabled (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

If they damage your chair

No liability exclusion on China–US flights: "CSAir is not excused from the liability of loss, damage or death of wheelchairs or service animals that disabled passengers have checked in China-US flights"

China Southern states it is not relieved of liability for the loss or damage of wheelchairs (or service animals) checked by disabled passengers on China–US flights. No liability rule specific to mobility aids is published for other routes, and no compensation figure is given. Disability-service complaints under the ADA go to 95539 / +86 20 86682000 or webmaster@csair.com.

On board

On-board aisle chair

Yes

On-board aisle wheelchairs are offered only on international long-haul flights operated by China Southern widebodies — the named US, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Canada and Shenzhen–Dubai routes. Outside US routes the number carried per flight is limited; book 48 h ahead via a CSAir ticket office or 95539. CSAir warns it "cannot always guarantee that an on-board wheelchair will be available".

Special Assistance — Sick and Disabled (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Accessible lavatory

Conditional

"Currently, toilet wheelchair accessibility is restricted on some flights due to the limitations of certain aircraft types." China Southern does not list which aircraft have a wheelchair-accessible lavatory.

Special Assistance — Sick and Disabled (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Crew help you transfer

Yes

Staff assist passengers with the wheelchair from the airport to the gate or on board, at no extra charge, depending on airport facilities; WCHC covers passengers who cannot move within the cabin. A boarding lift is provided where possible on flights without a jet bridge. A wheelchair for boarding and disembarking is provided without a separate application.

Special Assistance — Sick and Disabled (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Seating & movable armrests

Yes

"On our flights, 50% of our aisle seats have movable armrests." China Southern says it will do its best to arrange the most suitable seat, and companions who declare the accompaniment at booking and check in together are seated adjacently.

Special Assistance — Sick and Disabled (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Fleet detail. China Southern publishes no cargo-hold or door dimensions. It instead asks passengers to send the wheelchair's specifications in advance so it can confirm whether there is space, and it caps the number of unescorted disabled passengers per flight (2 seats 51–100, 4 seats 101–200, 6 seats 201–400, 8 over 400 seats); the cap is lifted on China–US routes.

Worth knowing

Both the English and the Simplified Chinese pages were read. Unusually for a Chinese carrier, CSAir's English 'Sick and Disabled' page is the fuller source and the Chinese baggage-restriction text (csair.com/au/zh/.../limit_luggage/) is word-for-word the same as the English — so language_of_source is recorded as 'en', with the Chinese pages cited where they carry extra wording (the wheelchair exemption from the 160 Wh device cap). Three things a traveller should note: (1) electric-wheelchair carriage needs a 48 h application and CSAir's confirmation, and check-in closes 2 h earlier than normal; (2) each flight has a quota of unescorted disabled passengers, lifted only on China–US routes; (3) nothing at all is published about wet or non-spillable (gel/AGM) wheelchair batteries — only lithium rules exist. Mainland /cn/ travel-guide URLs now 404 and redirect to a JavaScript SPA; the regional English/Chinese mirrors under /sg/en/ and /au/zh/ still serve the full text. FLAKY DOMAIN, NOT LINK ROT (re-verified 2026-07-29): a link checker flagged source s3, https://www.csair.com/au/zh/tourguide/luggage_service/unchecked_luggage/limit_luggage/, as a 404. It is not dead — csair.com serves its /tourguide/ pages inconsistently across CDN edge nodes. Twelve consecutive GETs of s3 returned HTTP 200 with the full 限制运输的物品 text six times and csair's 「很抱歉，未找到指定页面。错误代码：404」 error page (a constant 4,887 bytes) the other six. The same 50/50 behaviour was then measured on the English pages too — s1 invalid_passengers 3/8 OK, s2 articles_limited 3/8 OK, s5 special_passengers 2/8 OK — so EVERY csair travel-guide page cited here will randomly 404 and randomly succeed; only the ADA PDF (s6) was stable at 8/8. Treat a single 404 from csair.com as noise and retry several times before concluding a page is gone. The 200 responses still carry verbatim the text this record cites (electric wheelchair with a non-removable battery secured and the circuit disconnected, removed battery 不能超过300Wh, spares 一个不超过300Wh或两个不超过160Wh). Region variants are not a workaround: /sg/zh/ is equally flaky and /us/zh/, /cn/zh/, /sg/en/ and /us/en/ of the s3 path are permanently 404. No fact was re-grounded and no value changed.

Sources

Every figure above traces to one of these.

s1 Special Assistance — Sick and Disabled (English) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
s2 Baggage restrictions — items unacceptable as checked baggage / lithium battery rules (English) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
s3 行李运输限制 — 电动轮椅及助行器锂电池规定 (Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
s4 锂电池安全运输提示 — Lithium battery safe-carriage notice (Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
s5 Special Assistance — General rules for special passengers (English) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
s6 Americans with Disabilities Act (China Southern PDF) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29

Record status researched · confidence high · 6 official sources · 7 contacts · 69% of the fields this reference tracks are answered. Newest source read 29 July 2026, the day before this page was built. What these mean.

China Southern Airlines

Who to contact

Read it from the source

Powered wheelchairs & batteries

Manual wheelchairs

Booking & cost

On board

Worth knowing

Sources

Record quality