We hear that all airlines in Europe are routinely overbooked this month. Some worse than others.
This cri de coeur has just landed from the celebrated violinist Gidon Kremer:
I feel I must share the following with you and many travelling cellists.
Our piano trio – Georgijs Osokins , Giedre Dirvanauskaite and me – Gidon – is on a European summer festival tour.
An hour ago, on our way from Lithuania to Vienna in order to play at the Lockenhaus chamber music festival, we were in transit at Copenhagens airport.
All three of us- musicians plus the cello were already checked in.
At the gate the officer in charge of SAS denied the cello to be taken on board of Austrian Airlines flight because “it was overbooked”.
He said in a rather harsh tone of voice, that Austrian gives priority to passengers on a waiting list. Because of the cello we suddenly – despite having boarding passes- were downgraded to the waiting list.
After we refused to put the valuable instrument into the luggage department, he issued new boarding passes to at least 4 passengers at the counter. I tried in vain to explain to him, that we have an important concert and the cello seat was legally paid, that we had a valid ticket for the flight….
Nothing could convince him and we had to leave CPH without our cello partner and her valuable Gofriller.
More-Giedre was later told that all other flights to Vienna were overbooked and she could fly only via Zurich tomorrow with a delay of at least 26 hours. Our performance is now on the verge to be cancelled.
Lately such accidents became already a sad routine with a number of our colleagues suffering over airlines policy, but I was really surprised, that such an incident can happen to the country of Mozart and “Sounds of music” .
Shame on Austrian Airlines and their SAS partners.
The post Exclusive: Gidon Kremer’s trio is dumped by airline appeared first on Slippedisc.
