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On 13 August, violinist Daniel Cubero experienced repeated issues while trying to board with a viola on a British Airways (BA) flight at Barcelona airport. Cubero described the incident on social media, posting a picture of his receipt for the flight. He began with, ’Today I had a horrible experience with British Airways, flight BA 483.’
The first obstacle came at the check-in desk where he was told that the viola case was too big and would not fit in the cabin. Despite explaining that he had flown with BA for 15 years without incident and presented their musical instrument policy to the employee at the desk, he was told there was no way around it.
He agreed to buy another ticket for the viola however the flight was full. Cubero asked to speak to a supervisor, who, half an hour later, arrived with a ruler. They measured his case, saying it was 82cm and could not travel in the cabin. He was then told that he could only check it in a ‘special baggage’ for €85.
Cubero agreed to pay the €85 and proceeded to the gate. He explained his situation to the crew members and asked to speak to the captain. They refused, saying that they would be able to manage the situation. However, a crew member then went to speak to the captain, returning to tell Cubero that the captain refused to let the viola onboard.
Cubero explained that the viola could not handle the pressure or temperature in the hold. He eventually did not take the flight and 10 hours later boarded an EasyJet flight.
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