GOLD Coast players and officials have finally made it to Shanghai for Sunday's historic clash against Port Adelaide, after the team's connecting flight from Singapore was delayed and the team was stranded onboard the plane.

The Suns had an early start on Wednesday morning, catching a bus to Brisbane at 5am before flying out to Singapore.

The team enjoyed a dip in Singapore's Changi Airport pool before boarding their connecting flight to Shanghai at around 3.30pm local time.

Players, coaches, club officials and support staff were all seated ready to depart when the captain announced there would be a two-hour delay to take-off and passengers were not allowed to disembark.

Touch down: Port players hit Shanghai for historic game

The Suns players, most of whom were seated in economy, took the opportunity to stand and stretch their legs. 

Star midfielder Gary Ablett and key forward Peter Wright were among a small handful of players travelling in business class with club chairman Tony Cochrane.

The rest of the team was seated in economy, including coach Rodney Eade.

The flight arrived in Shanghai in the early hours of Thursday, with the group having spent about 23 hours in transit.

It was not a favourable start to the trip for the Suns.

Eade voiced his concerns about air pollution in China and travel conditions last weekend and co-captain Steven May addressed the group earlier this week advising to prepare for potential issues such as flight delays.

Gold Coast's opposition, Port Adelaide, landed in Shanghai earlier on Wednesday.