MG Blog

Tha cabin baggage ban after the stopped plot to blow up planes in London is a disaster for musicians.
Performers are used to carry the instruments as cabin baggage or even to buy a separate seat for big ones, like cello or tuba, because insurance do not cover damage if instruments are carried in the hold.
The problem is not only the way instruments are treated by luggage operators. The real problem is the cold. Plane holds have no heating plant and temperatures can go well below minus 10C in the hold of a short flight and below minus 30C during a long high-flying journey. This experience could seriously damage the wood of a 200 years old violin, cello or oboe whose value easily go over € 20.000.
BBC News report that Russian musicians returning from London after the Bolshoi Theatre’s season face an overland journey because of the new UK cabin baggage ban on planes. They are under contract to keep their instruments with them and cannot check them in as hold baggage. Bolshoi musicians borrow their instruments from Russia’s state collection and do not have the right to part with them under any circumstances.
Air travel is an everyday part of the job for many musicians and the cabin baggage ban is a real nightmare for them.