Wednesday's announcement comes at a tumultuous time at China Southern...........
Its chairman Si Xianmin was put under investigation by authorities last month for "severe violations of discipline", a phrase which typically refers to corruption.
His company recorded a 48.4 percent year-on-year fall in net profit to 1.17 billion yuan ($186 million) in the third quarter, according to an earnings report.
The latest order comes despite slowing economic growth which aviation industry officials fear could hurt air travel.
China logged its worst economic performance since the global financial crisis in the third quarter, with gross domestic product rising just 6.9 percent year-on-year.