Hmm
Hi Cheyenne (Capital of Wyoming pilots)..
I am not in any way discounting your post..
But if memory serves me correct since that post over a yr ago
London is up and running, exploratory charters have been done to Birmingham and the UK Govt is actively working on liberalizing the visa problems for Chinese nationals.
Frankfurt has started or about to start via West China
Charter flights to Wellington announced (exploratory)
JFK about to start.
Mauritius about to start.
Additional flights regionally, which may lead to upgrades in the equipment once loads factors hit certain consistent levels. I have seen the 330 in SE Asia a few times and have been told "full flights"
CSA has opened an "office" or Base in Shenzhen and recently Shanghai (with CAAC blessing), and if the CAAC even remotely relaxes it's 1 route 1 airline policy, then I would posit that there is much more room to expand.
Geographically CAN is not that far from HKG (don't all attack me at once) and CX seems to have made a decent go of it over the years. The relaxation of the visa requirement (72hrs stopovers) is helping to sell the Kangaroo and Canton routes.
If the onboard product can be brought more inline with Thai, Singapore etc (recently on CSA to LAX they had no ice cubes half way through the flight) then people in OZ/Asia will find them a compelling choice. A cursory exam of Kayak for flights from Vietnam or Cambodia to Europe or LAX will show CSA usually has very competitive prices alongside QR.
Now this is not to negate any issues you have had in trg or the line, though I believe some are more to do with CAAC stipulations than a desire on the part of CSA. But I believe in the worlds most populous nation CSA certainly has room to grow, albeit Beijing does have geographical superiority.
Just my 2 cents worth..