The Strad reported yesterday that the LGT Young Soloists were almost stranded at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) after Singapore Airlines (SIA) refused to let them take their instruments with them on the flight.

The Swiss-based ensemble had performed in Singapore and Hong Kong last weekend, and both of their outbound flights had been without incident. According to the music magazine, they had checked in a double bass, booked seats for two cellos and carried eight violins and violas as hand baggage.

There was a problem only as they were about to fly home from HKIA, when SIA staff told them the violins and violas had to be checked in. LGT’s artistic director Alexander Gilman said this was not an option as some of the instruments, which included two Gaglianos, a Stradivarius and a Testore, were very valuable, but the staff insisted they had to follow the SIA policy, which they failed to present when requested.

Gilman showed them Federal Aviation Administration regulations, requested to speak to the pilot and even asked that they Google him for credibility, but to no avail. He didn’t get a response either when asked about the smooth procedure in the previous sectors.

The group eventually flew home on a Lufthansa flight, but not before complication.

Said Gilman, “A Singapore staff member sent pictures of the violins to Lufthansa to convince them of how large our cases were. Not only had he refused entry to the Singapore flight, he also wanted to ruin the Lufthansa option for us. Lufthansa, of course, did not care and took us last minute to Frankfurt.

…treating young children like this is a disgrace.”

A quick check on Google shows passengers have had similar experiences with SIA over the last few years. While the SIA website does offer clarification for “oversized musical instruments” like cellos and guitars, it doesn’t list instructions for smaller stringed instruments like violins and violas, noting only that cabin baggage must not exceed 7kg and a 115cm sum of length, width and height.

Coconuts Singapore has emailed SIA for comment.

UPDATE: SIA said today they’re carrying out an internal review of the incident that happened on Dec. 6, in which a group of customers was denied boarding on flight SQ871 bound for Zurich, to determine its full circumstances and assess how it could’ve been handled better.

“We do regret the incident and sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and anxiety caused to the group,” wrote the airline’s public affairs department. “We will be contacting the affected customers directly to follow up with them.”

Photo: The Strad

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