Violinist accuses airline of ‘complete injustice’ for refusing to let her board with rare 1761 violin

23 October 2025, 09:55

Airline refuses to let violinist board with her rare 1761 violin

Levy said she offered to pay for an extra seat but staff refused.

Belgian violinist Maya Levy has claimed that budget airline Transavia refused to let her board a flight after she declined to place her 18th-century violin in the aircraft hold.

Levy said she was due to fly with the airline earlier this week, but was stopped at the boarding gate and told her instrument, a 1761 Testore violin from Cremona, could not travel in the cabin with her.

The 28-year-old player took to Instagram to say, “At the boarding gate, the airline refused to let me board, claiming that there was no more place on the plane… Every musician knows that such an instrument can never be placed in the hold, as it would risk being irreparably damaged.”

Levy said she offered to pay extra or buy another seat for the instrument, but staff “categorically refused.” A pianist colleague, who did board the flight, later reported that there was space in the overhead compartments for the violin.

Read more: Violinist refused boarding by airline after declining to check in ‘rare’ Stradivarius

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Calling the incident “a complete injustice,” Levy said she has travelled to more than 55 countries with her violin since the age of 14 and has frequently encountered confusion over musical instruments at airports. “The man who didn’t let me board this time thought my violin was a guitar. And simply because ‘a guitar is big,’ he decided it couldn’t go on board,” she said.

A representative from the airline replied on Instagram, saying, “I can totally understand the frustration this situation may have created. However, the luggage in the cabin must follow precise dimensions so as not to interfere with the closure of the storage chests located on the ceiling. It is usually recommended to reserve an extra seat in the cabin for transporting particularly fragile objects, such as a centuries-old instrument.” The airline also referred concerned passengers to its website for guidance on travelling with musical instruments.

Levy performs internationally with major orchestras and festivals, playing her Testore instrument on loan. She is among a growing number of musicians who have faced difficulties transporting precious instruments, often valued in the six-figure range, on commercial flights.

Transavia made headlines earlier this year after Australian violinist Patrick Roberts was denied boarding a Paris–Milan flight for refusing to check in his Golden Period Stradivari violin, which he described as “rare and irreplaceable”.