Above: Kuwait Airways spacious Boeing 777 with 9-across configuration.
Leaving Guangzhou
My Kuwait Airways flight to Kuwait departs at 0440 so it was a pleasant surprise that check-in opened at 0100. I joined the queue 20 mins before opening and was surprised by the number of people already there, each typically having two large suitcases and more than their share of cabin baggage.
I now understand why the airline allowed more than the usual 3h for check-in. The queue moved slowly at first, with many people being required to repack, remove things from their bags or go pay for their excess baggage.
Fortunately, thing sped up and I was seen to about after 1h30 of waiting, about 3h before flight departure. With no luggage and no complex visa requirements, I was done in about a minute.
The security queue was moderate but immigration swift. That left me some time to use the lounge where I had shower and then some food. The hot food was lukewarm and I didn’t want to have too much in case it had gone unsafe.
Knowing that my incoming aircraft had arrived late (despite leaving Kuwait on time), I was surprised that the departure monitors hadn’t been updated for a delay.
Flying to Kuwait
At the gate, boarding didn’t start till departure time. The flight was nearly full and most people had far too much cabin baggage. Despite a 3-3-3 configuration (refitted) instead of the new norm of 3-4-3, the cabin crew worked hard to manage the locker space. It’s quite rare for them to have to do that on widebody aircraft.
We eventually pushed back about 40 mins late. That would mean I have a 10 min connecting time in Kuwait for my flight to Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen (SAW).
I know from past history that this flight typically arrives an hour early, so there was a chance I would make my connection. Eventually the inflight TV screens showed that we would arrive more or less on time.
Kuwait Airport has a 45 mins minimum connection time and mine at 50 mins is just a tad above that minimum.
I was super tired when we departed and must have dozed off soon after take-off. Somehow, I woke when the first meal was being served. Then I took a sleeping pill which gave me about 3h30 of sleep. It was a short wait till the second meal was served before landing in Kuwait.
Both meals were generous but there were quite a few bits-and-bobs to the second meal (e.g. both roll and croissant) that such item had to be placed on top of the preset meal items.
Before landing, I had a walk around the cabin to see if there were any spare seats up front. I was seated near the very back and wanted to try shift forward for landing to enable a speedy exit for my short flight connection.
I found some spare seats in front and checked with the crew. The first one said she would ask and get back to me but didn’t. The second said not to worry as there was enough time and the next flight would wait for me as we’re not late anymore.
Transit in Kuwait
We landed on time but the 15 mins taxiing time ate into my 50 min connecting time.
Disembarking, I was surprised not to have someone ushering me to the next gate as at some airports, when there are people on tight connections.
It wasn’t far to transit security where there was a staff member checked people’s destinations so they can be screened preferentially if running late.
Boarding was in progress at a bus gate and I went immediately onto the A330-800neo. For a new widebody aircraft, it came with air vents (as did their refitted B777-300). That’s highly unusual nowadays because of the considerable weight of the ducting behind the scenes. Kuwait Airways has earned itself a new fan (pun intended)!
Sense of Relief
Settled on board, I felt a sense of relief that I had made this flight connection. There had been so many hiccups in the months ahead with Kuwait Airways rescheduling both legs of the flight. The flight became two days earlier and the safe connecting time had become progressively shorter. Then and then became negative.
To resolve the misconnect, I reluctantly accepted a flight to Sabiha Gokcen instead of Istanbul.
I had planned for today’s connection to have failed and was looking forward to a night in Kuwait paid for by the airline, to explore a little and also tick off a new country.
Flying to Sabiha Gokcen
My second Kuwait Airways flight was unlike the first. The first flight was chocka with so many people with too many cabin bags, departing at an awful time. It was hard for the crew to be bright and cheerful.
The crew on this flight were lovely. The senior flight attendant came to thank me for agreeing to a seat swap earlier so that an elderly niqab’ed lady could avoid sitting next to a man.
He then gave me kiss on the cheek. I thought he fancied me but then saw him kissing other people. It is a Middle Eastern thing to do but I later realised that despite speaking Arabic, he’s Pakistani.
The meal on this flight was again generous.
Bus to Bursa
I was out landside pretty quickly with no luggage. Knowing that buses run to Bursa about every 30 mins, I invested some time to top up my Istanbulkart so that I would be in a better position to catch an infrequent bus upon my return to Istanbul in a few days.
The machines for top-up were a bit hit and miss. The old machine seemed to work fine whereas the new ones didn’t process my card payment.
Walking out of the terminal I got led to the Hava Bus counter where I purchased a ticket to Bursa for TRY400 which was less than the TRY565 I had expected. I also had to wait 40 mins for the 1530 departure.
Then I realised that I should have gone with the other company which ran half-hourly services albeit at a higher price. This service was a little slower requiring a bus change at their depot and a few stops en route at various towns.
Overall, the journey took about 2h15 instead of 1h30 and with the wait, I probably wasted over an hour, which felt like a long time after such a long day since waking up at a tulou in rural Fujian yesterday. The TRY165 (NZD7) savings was no consolation.
From Bursa’s bus station, I had to take a taxi to Ipekyolu Hotel. While they took card, the surcharge was hefty and I paid in cash.
At about 1800, I was happy to finally reach my home for the next three nights. I took a simple dinner and was in bed by around 2100 for a well-earned sleep. It had been 44h since I was in a bed back in rural Fujian.