Ryanair Refuses to Board a Violin

The virtuoso violinist Ester Abrami was refused boarding on her Ryanair flight because of her violin. The TikTok star took to social media to complain.

What’s up: On September 5th, the British-French violinist Ester Abrami posted on social media that Ryanair had refused to board her violin on her flight from Marseille to Berlin. Abrami had been en route from her family home to record her third album with Sony Classical. When Abrami offered to pay any additional amount in order to board the instrument, the crew refused, claiming the flight was full. Abrami claims she had already paid for cabin luggage, but her violin was 1cm over the Ryanair requirements. Abrami plays a 200-year-old Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin.

The reaction: Abrami took to social media to express the adversity caused by missing work in such a competitive industry. She also explained that she had never been spoken to so rudely as by the Ryanair staff on this particular flight.

Many musicians commenting on Abrami’s post noted that the violinist should have taken the precaution of paying for an extra seat for her instrument, as is standard for cellists and other instrumentalists. Others encouraged her to stop complaining; a centimetre is a centimetre.

Author
Recent Posts

Sara Schabas

Sara Schabas is a Dora-nominated soprano, writer and yoga teacher. She has performed and created leading roles with companies including Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, the Dayton Opera, and Aspen Opera, and is a former member of Barbara Hannigan’s Equilibrium Young Artists. Currently based in Montreal, she is a doctoral student at McGill University — where she recently received the Wirth Vocal Prize — and editor of Art Song Canada magazine.