A professional musician was stopped from boarding two flights in Cork Airport with his musical instruments — forcing him to travel to Dublin Airport to leave the country.
Pablo Zapico had travelled to Cork to perform at classical music festival West Cork Music with Spanish conductor and violinist Daniel Pinteño’s Baroque ensemble Concerto 1700.
He flew into Cork with his two instruments — a baroque-era string instrument called a theorbo and a baroque guitar — on July 2 with KLM.
Mr Zapico performs internationally, regularly flying with his instruments, and had previously encountered no problems.
He books an extra seat for the theorbo, while the smaller classical guitar can be carried as cabin baggage and stowed in the overhead compartment, or secured with a seatbelt to the theorbo in the extra seat he buys.
“I have travelled worldwide with my instruments for more than 20 years as a professional musician,” he said.
“This is my profession, and the purpose of the trip was to participate in a classical music festival recognised throughout Europe and in Co Cork, a source of pride for local residents and a major attraction for many visitors from abroad.”
He was due to travel directly from Cork to Billund in Denmark this summer to perform at another concert, rather than returning to his home in Spain.
He was to fly with the same airline as he arrived with, KLM. But when he reached the boarding gate, he was not allowed to board the plane, with an employee saying he could not fit the two instruments on one seat.
“I explained that I had arrived in Cork with the same airline and on the same type of aircraft… without any problem just a few days earlier,” said Mr Zapico.
The only option this woman offered me was to put one of the instruments in the hold.
“I told her this was impossible because they are extremely fragile musical instruments and, in addition, one is worth €9,000 and the other €12,000.
“They were also specially built for me and are replicas of baroque instruments from the 17th and 18th centuries.”
Mr Zapico said he was told he should have purchased a seat for each instrument, but a passenger is only allowed to purchase one seat for baggage per flight with the airline.
“Because I refused to have either instrument put in the hold, I was denied boarding and my checked suitcase was unloaded,” he said.
“After being left behind, I had to buy another flight to Billund for the following day, 6 July.” He bought a flight with another airline, Lufthansa.
“Again, I booked two seats: One for myself and one for my instruments, exactly as I had always done, assuming that what had happened was an exceptional case.
Pablo Zapico’s instruments are replicas of baroque instruments. Picture: Pedro Puente Hoyos
“I made sure that the aircraft operating the flight from Cork was a larger one … so there would be no additional problem concerning the size of the aircraft or its seats.” These additional seats cost €564.42. He also had to book a nearby hotel for the night, costing an additional €163.37.
However, when he arrived at Cork Airport the next day for his new flight, the same female worker was at check-in.
“Despite this being a completely different airline and aircraft, the same situation repeated itself,” he said.
“I called Lufthansa offices several times, and they too could not understand why I was not being allowed to board. They even spoke to her on the phone in an attempt to persuade her. It was impossible.” Mr Zapico then decided to book flights from Dublin Airport instead. “I bought Lufthansa flights again. When I called them and explained the situation, they were extremely helpful and, even though the check-in counter had already closed [although the flight had not yet departed], they agreed to change my origin from Cork to Dublin. Even so, the additional cost was €110.94 for the two seats, plus €65 for the checked suitcase.
“I took a bus from Cork city centre. It cost €43.20 for two seats: One for me and one for my instruments.” He arrived in Dublin Airport at 10pm and as his flight was very early the next morning, he tried to sleep on a bench at Burger King.
“It was a completely horrific day,” he said.
“At 4.30am, I checked in for the flight and was able to travel from Dublin to Frankfurt and from there, finally, to Billund without absolutely any problem.
“Both at check-in and during the two boarding processes, all the staff treated me exceptionally well.”
Mr Zapico made it in time to perform his concert at Hindsgavl Castle that evening and flew back to Madrid without any problems.
He described his experience in Cork Airport as “horrific”.
“The treatment I received was extremely unpleasant, as if I were committing some kind of offence or trying to take advantage of the system. Nobody is asking to carry instruments free of charge, of course, but one extra seat should be more than sufficient for instruments that genuinely require it.”
The problems in Cork Airport cost Mr Zapico an extra €1,060.07. The company that handles baggage in Cork Airport, Swissport, told the Irish Examiner: “Swissport teams operate on behalf of our airline partners and are required to comply with their cabin baggage and seating policies.”
Cork Airport was contacted for comment and said it cannot interfere with externally managed ground handling and airline policies.