We’d arrived at the airport at 6.50pm for a 7.25pm international flight from Kuala Lumpur to get back to our base, Singapore.
The meeting at the Imazium office had stretched beyond our planned schedule and given comfort about being able to catch our flight via the KLIA (Kuala Lumpur Int'l Airport) express metro route by leaving 2 hours prior to flight timing rather than the regular road route which would have required us to leave at least 3 hours prior, we’d taken it easy to let the discussions stretch a bit.
However, our anxiety peaked when, at the time of leaving the office in our cab to the KL Sentral station, our hosts informed us that we would make it to the flight but we should also be open to the option of gathering a beer at the bar opposite the station, just in case we’d not be in time to get our flight.
Firstly, the Grab taxi had arrived a bit delayed at 5.30pm vis-à-vis our plan and secondly, the traffic had already begun to build-up enroute, given the peak evening hour. During the journey, our discussions revolved around whether or not we’d make it to the airport in timely way and how many of the 3 of us had actually got a boarding pass in hand to be able to rush directly to the gates as soon as we arrived there. Whilst the driver tried his best to scrape us through the traffic and make our way into the metro station at around 6pm, once at the station, our assumptions of a recurring metro (similar to Singapore), were shattered when informed that the express metro ran only 3 times per hour.
Unknown to us, the 6pm express metro just departed for the airport whilst our cab pulled in to the station. Hurrying to the tickets counter, we instantaneously purchased 3 tickets in the hope of rushing to the platform. But seeing the train depart in front of our eyes, our thoughts ran to the extended boarding service offered by Malaysian Airlines at the metro station so that any pending boarding passes could be acquired, sealing our fate with the flight.
The staff at the extended boarding service counter very unapologetically informed us that we’d be delayed beyond the 2-hour prior to flight boarding service offered by them and handed us over to our fate of trying to undertake the check-in at the airport directly once (& if) we arrived there.
Strolling our bags to the platform, we stood there hoping the next metro would arrive & leave timely for us to have some sort of chance to board the flight. After ~20-minutes wait during which we scrutinized various parts of the platform and viewed our watch-face umpteen number of occasions (we’d timed ourselves perfectly for the full stretch of wait since the previous metro departed), we finally entered the metro at 6.20pm hoping against all hope to catch the flight.
Fortunately, the driver’s efficiency to launch us on the tracks that would land us to our destination was incredible and we took off soon. The journey was a mix of praying & soothing ourselves, sportively abusing our hosts, and then praying again to be able to get to family after a 2-day busy official trip. Every minute was counting on the journey (whilst we were on an official company card paid journey and a revision could have been made in case we missed the flight, personal ethics to be able to make it on time and not miss a flight were at stake) and knowing that the metro would directly halt at KLIA 1 terminal in 28 mins after making a single stop enroute was heartening.
As the metro pulled into the station at 6.48pm, our panic to get to the Malaysian Airlines counter made us skip the lift going up and rather take the one that first went down to later take us up (at times serendipity has the lesson built into the situation – seems our flight up was only possible by stooping to the lowest point).
Arriving on the correct check-in floor at 6.50pm, as 2 of us with the boarding pass ran directly to the immigration counter, our marathon converted into a hurdle at the security counter when the guards announced we were too late since the immigration queue at that hour was stretching well beyond 1 hour duration. Appreciably, whilst my colleague had a direct entry Singaporean passport and could have gone through, he chose to stick with us for working out the next steps jointly. Not allowed to go further, the 2 of us immediately got in touch with the 3rd to inform of our plight so that he need not panic for his boarding pass, but as soon as the security guard informed that he’d allow us to go ahead if & only if the flight personnel from check-in counter were to accompany us, we made a beeline for the check-in counter where our 3rd colleague was trying to get a print for his boarding pass, but to no avail.
Whilst getting 1 passenger to enter so late was going to be challenging and hence he was unwilling to print the boarding pass for our colleague, we suddenly realized that unity was strength in the most dire circumstances when he now saw 3 passengers about to miss their flight and hence was open to print the boarding pass as well as accompany us to the security gate, whilst still leaving us to our fate of navigating the immigration.
Once inside, our Singaporean colleague was able to access the automated direct entry gate, but 2 of us Indian passport holders had to still figure out our way through the serpentine line of passengers waiting their turn since over an hour.
The only queue that seemed reasonable to enter was the senior citizen/ wheelchair entry gate with lesser passengers in the queue and an Indian ethnicity lady at the counter (our passport had not given us a direct entry, but empathy from a similar ethnicity was our hopeful lottery ticket to enter); whilst we tried to build our acquaintances on the way in the queue and eventually portrayed we were traveling with a senior uncle, the Indian ethnicity lady was share to look through our ruse and just shove us out of the queue.
With our faces low, we again stared menacingly at the 1-hour long regular queue, trying to figure out any trump card to enter mid-way – meanwhile, our Singaporean colleague on the other side of immigration was trying to look out for us a way to enter as well. Signaling to him to proceed further, we were surprised to be informed by one of the airport crew that a counter on the extreme left had a special paid entry gate – rushing to the same, our second marathon was again hurdled by the lady at the gate informing us the special paid entry had been shut since a while and the gate was only a diplomatic entry gate (with no one in the queue).
It was time to stoop to our lowest and plead our way through at 7pm for 7.15pm flight for which the security check was still pending. Wonder what worked on the lady – our humble tone, our put-down faces or our past karma, she checked our documents and let us through almost immediately since there was no once else around. Blessing her fate multiple times, we rushed and arrived at the boarding gate for the security check around 7.08pm. Our Singaporean colleague on the other side of the boarding gate was informing the flight officials to wait for us since we were so close now.
The security check was a shared ramp for 2 gates and was again long enough to give us jitters. Only, the other gate it was securing baggage for, was a later flight going to India from KL – on pleading in local language, all the Indians in the line as though opened up their spots to our valiant effort of trying to catch a flight 5 minutes before allotted take-off time aka Moses creating a partition in the middle of the ocean to cross-over.
Once we picked our bags on the other side of the screening machine and entered the flight, the doors shut almost instantaneously, and we couldn’t believe our luck as we settled our into our seats at 7.12pm. It almost seemed like an Olympic feat to have made it to the flight and to be making it home after all that had happened. Thanking God & the government-run Malaysian Airlines (couldn’t have been possible for a private airline to keep the flight waiting for a set of passengers) for our good fortune and ability to make it despite the odds, we were about to take off when I messaged our host about our ordeal, informing him about his incorrect guidance causing us much concern and almost a missed flight.
The cherry on the cake came in his response – “I said you’d make it to the flight!”
Selamat Maju Jaya!