Polish carrier LOT has apologised after refusing to carry a passenger's $5 million violin. Photo / Wikimedia Commons; File
Polish carrier LOT has apologised after refusing to carry a passenger's $5 million violin. Photo / Wikimedia Commons; File
A Polish airline has apologised to a virtuoso violinist after declining his $5 million Stradivarius violin as cabin luggage.
Janusz Wawrowski, a musician and festival director from Poland, was attempting to fly from Vilnius in Lithuania to Warsaw when crew from budget carrier LOT told him that the instrument would have to be checked into the hold.
Wawrowski was “shocked”. The 338-year-old instrument was well within the airline’s regulations for “one carry-on baggage up to 8kg”.
Despite insisting the violin should fly with him in the cabin, ground staff at the Lithuanian airport wouldn’t budge. He was told, he could attempt to board the next plane or book with another airline.
“The ground staff presented me with two options: put the instrument in the luggage compartment below deck or stay in Vilnius,” he said.
The violinist, who had just performed on the instrument with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, refused to check the instrument into the hold where it might be damaged.
Instead he bought a seat on an eight-hour bus trip to his home town of Konin, Poland, for 250 Zloty ($90). The interstate coach had no problem with carrying the $5 million instrument.
Polish carrier LOT refused to carry Janusz Wawrowski's famous $5million Stradivarius violin 'Polonia' as hand luggage. Photo / Danuta Matloch, Wikimedia Commons
Wawrowski plays on the first and only Polish-owned Stradivarius since the World War II, when the famous instruments were taken as loot. It is named Polonia or “Poland”.
The 17th century Italian instruments are extremely valuable. Understandably Wawrowski did not wish to stow the violin for fear it may be damaged in the aircraft hold. In fact, he rarely lets it out of his sight.
“This is not the first time we musicians have had to face the incomprehension of airline attendants about what a valuable item we are dealing with,” the musician wrote on Facebook.
“An instrument is not just a tool. It is an extension of the musician’s body, and we spend hundreds, if not thousands, of hours with it. It would also seem obvious that a violin almost 340 years old, made by the most famous luthier in history, is too valuable to travel in the cargo hold. Apparently not for everyone.”
The Polish airline has since been in touch with the virtuoso performer to apologise.
Wawrowski updated his social media with a video message stating that the airline has since said that it will work with musicians and ground staff to update its rules on carrying instruments.
“What else is very important, LOT has promised to issue information to all its employees and associates around the world [about] how we carry the instruments in question.”
Wawrowski’s professional website describes him as “one of the most outstanding and experienced violinists of his generation”. His 1685 Antonio Stradivari violin, Polonia, is a one-of-a-kind.
Major orchestras often charter planes for valuable instruments. Incorrectly storage of violins can affect the strings and timbre of the delicate objects. Apparently Wawrowski is content to take the bus.
