Posted on September 02, 2010 by Fiona Hilliard

Ryanair doesn’t like violins.  I can’t seem to work out why…

Are they too posh?

Does their sad music clash with Ryanair’s cheap and tacky interiors?

Would they prefer a banjo or are they prejudiced against anything musical?

Do they needlessly take up the space of a paying ticket holder?

Bingo.

Last week, the Incorported Society of Musicians stood up for Francesca Rijks, a 12-year-old British violin student and her father who were stopped at a German departure gate and ordered to pay £190 (€228) to carry her violin onboard, despite being previously assured that she could take the violin on board for free.
That wasn’t all. To give insult to injury, in the time it took them to get the money together to pay for the ticket, the plane had taken off without them.

Back in August, three other violinists travelling from Frankfurt to Norfolk were forced to fork out £1340 (€1610) for their violins.  Concert promoter Norfolk Concerts is currently preparing to take legal action against the airline.
Musicians feel so strongly about the airline that they’ve even set up a Facebook group.

“Musicians against Ryanair” is encouraging all sorts of musicians to boycott the airline.  They’ve already attracted 13,000 members.  Horror stories doing the rounds include one violin player being instructed to leave their instrument in the overhead compartment even though they’d purchased a ticket.  Others swap tales of how their instruments were damaged while left in the hold.

I’d be worried if I was Ryanair. If they’re not too careful, they might find themselves on the other end of some awful YouTube hit like Dave Carroll’s United Breaks Guitars…

On second thoughts, go on then, let’s get the violins out…