Violinist Forced to Carry 1782 Violin Without Case on Airline Flight

In last Tuesday’s (12/2) Classic FM (U.K.), Hazel Davis writes, “Violinist Carolin Widmann joined the swelling ranks of instrumentalists encountering airline trouble earlier this week when she tried to board a Lufthansa flight at Helsinki Airport with her 1782 Giovanni Battista Guadagnini instrument. Despite frequent flying experience and previous compliant travels with the same airline, the German soloist claims that the staff in Helsinki applied sizing rules in a way not encountered previously. The musician’s only solution was to travel holding the violin outside of its case, after being forced to check the empty case as extra baggage, to avoid risking damage or loss. Widmann said the Lufthansa staff onboard were sympathetic, but ground staff maintained the strict interpretation of rules…. Lufthansa told Classic FM that its hand baggage limits are in place ‘to distribute the loading capacity to each passenger in an equal way.’ The flight crew helped her file a complaint … The violinist … is a professor at the University of Music and Theatre in Leipzig and had been playing with the Tapiola Sinfonietta in Espoo, Finland … A spokesperson for Lufthansa stated: ‘Generally speaking, musical instruments are carried free of charge in the cabin…. Standard violin cases typically exceed the 55 cm limit.’ ”