Chapter 131 – Shenzhen to KLIA Problem Flight

Chapter 131 – Shenzhen to KLIA Problem Flight Today, Sunday May the 3rd, was supposed to be the day I fly back to Kulla Lumpur on China Southern Airlines, on the evening flight departing at 20:30 and arriving at 30 past midnight. However, a few days before my scheduled flight, China Southern sent me an Email informing me that the flight was cancelled, and that I had been re-booked on the Monday May 4th morning flight, leaving at 10:30 and arriving at 14:45. While this sounds reasonable and there was no extra charge, it omits the fact that to get to the airport from my short-term apartment is a 95 minute to 2-hour trip, which I would have to make at six in the morning, to arrive at least 2 hours before an international flight. In order to arrive at the airport on time and not feel like the living dead… I booked a hotel with airport shuttle service nearby the airport, at extra expense. I contacted China Southern Airlines to ask if there was any compensation for the inconvenience, say paying for my extra night at the hotel, or upgrading me to a business class seat? Lounge access? Their Email responses seemed to be from a chat-bot, and where generally unhelpful and uninformative as they kept repeating the same thing, that my flight had been rebooked, they did not offer any kind of deal or compensation for my inconvenience and extra expenses, very lousy customer service. Consequently, I booked a cheap hotel nearby the airport with free shuttle service, I still had to get up at 7 in the morning to check in. I arrived at the airport on time, after I checked in, I had to take a bus to the plane, then stand in line to climb up the stairs for boarding our A321NX plane. I took my seat, 31K, watched the safety demonstration, and after pushback, the ground crew waved goodbye to the plane. We taxied past the many gates of Shenzhen’s modern Bo’an airport, and took off, flying over the Fuyong District, and the Pearl river delta, on our way up to cruising altitude. We flew over the Parcel Islands, a small group of coral reef islands. As we flew over Vietnam, we were served lunch which consisted of a dinner roll, a salad, a main dish of penne pasta with sauce, and a cookie with a banana for desert. As we flew over the coastline of Peninsula Maylasia, we encountered abundant, dark clouds. After orbiting in a holding pattern over Kuala Lumpur for a few minutes, the pilot announced we were diverting to Singapore as there was a bad storm over Kuala Lumpur and there was a ground stop at the airport. We flew out over the straight of Melaka, over Indonesia’s Karimunbesr Island, and landed at Singapore’s world-famous Changi Airport. We taxied through a light rain, to the parking apron, next to a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, where we took on extra fuel. The cabin crew was very accommodating and allowed us to walk around, and even served another round of soft drinks. After about 30 minutes on the ground, we taxied through a light rain, and took off, for the 45-minute flight to KUL. After a delay in our arrival time of over 2 hours, we finally landed at KLIA airport, and taxied to out gate at the satellite Terminal One. I joined enormous crowds on the automated train, as many flights had been delayed, .then stood in a long line for immigration, the actual passport scan was fast and efficient. I reclaimed my baggage, went downstairs and bought my ticket for the KLIA express, and I was on my way home. Overall, this was a difficult and painful flight, especially dealing with China Southern airlines ticketing, although the flight crew were pleasant and professional despite the diversion to Singapore. 00:00 Opening Titles 00:20 My rescheduled flight with no compensation 02:49 Bo’an Airport 03:37 Taxiing 04:00 Take-off over Pearl river delta 05:25 Lunch service 06:08 Storm over KL 06:33 Diverting to Singapore 07:39 Change Airport parking apron 08:14 Flight SIN to KUL 09:12 Landing at KLIA 10:53 End Credits Chapter 131 - Shenzhen to KLIA Problem Flight VIDEOGRAPHY, VOICE-OVER, WRITTEN, DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY Michael Roberts ADDITIONAL PHOTOS & VIDEO iNeo Google Maps Bo’an International Airport Shenzhen China Southern Airlines Changi Airport Singapore Kuala Lumpur International Airport KLIA Express AI images by Co-Pilot & Gemini ARIEL/DRONE SEQUENCES Michael Roberts ROYALTY-FREE MUSIC Club Intro – Sascha Ende - https://filmmusic.io/ Bo’an Runways - Michael Roberts Pearl River Flyby - Michael Roberts Singapore Diversion - Michael Roberts KLIA Landing – Michael Roberts TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS iNeo Laser F/X VIDEO © 2026 BY MICHAEL ROBERTS All Rights Reserved