I just arrived back in Shanghai, and that might explain why blogging has been slow. I got a flight from Amsterdam to Beijing serviced by KLM-partner China Southern and already in Amsterdam I got used to the Chinese mayhem that goes along with traveling. Not sure who to blame exactly, but that is one of the nice things of mayhem in China: it is not always very clear who to blame.
First, the flight was hopelessly overbooked, creating some nasty incidents at the KLM-counters. I'm not sure who is to blame for that, KLM of China Southern, but I do have my suspicions. I tried to check-in over the internet at the KLM-site and when that continued to brake down, I decided to be there a bit early. Not everybody got their reserved seat.
Then we were sitting in the departure hall and as a frequent traveller I know it is bad news when an hour befor departure the plane has not yet arrived at the gate. Everybody else had arrived, the passengers, the catering services, the maintenance crew, the cargo and their handlers. Only the plane came as the last one, so it was not surprising cargo was late in getting their job done, as the crew told us.
Then, the plane started to roll to the tarmac, mysteriously returned to the gate where it came from and made its way again to the spot where most planes start their take-off. Not our flight. One of the passengers was obvious not well, we were now told, and after a lenghty sight-seeing tour at the airport, the captain decided to debark the foreign man, who I saw at a certain moment laying on the floor.
Then, after medics took care of the passenger, documentation had to be changed, causing new delays.
Just like all the other passengers, this was not the moment to complain, you just hope the captain did the right thing. The only problem I had, it took a while for him to find out what was the right thing and if the time was not ticking for the patient, it was for me. I had a connecting flight from Beijing to Shanghai and had asked for a generous three hours for the transfer. I made it, but it was a bit of a rush.
I hope to be on steam again by the weekend. Tomorrow two workshops and possibly a short spell of recovery.
2 comments:
Are you sure it was China Southern, not China Eastern?
Next time try China Eastern, I have made good experiences with them; the service and food is horrible, but they are always on time at least.
And they have a great points program.
Very sure: the plane went on to Guangzhou. Good to hear China Eastern can fly on time: they have not mastered that art yet for their domestic flights.
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