The European Parliament and the Council have provisionally amended the rules, ensuring clearer guidelines for travelling musicians
Following nearly 15 years of lobbying by the International Federation of Musicians (FIM) and Pearle* Live Performance Europe, the European Parliament and the Council have published a provisional agreement with revised rules, particularly concerning the rights for musical instruments onboard.
The agreement will require parties to indicate allowed cabin baggage dimensions clearly and accessibly across websites and any further platforms, and to make information available on request regarding the conditions under which fragile items – including musical instruments – will be transported in the airplane cabin or cargo hold. Additional charges may still apply.
The provisional agreement also lays out the following rules:
‘A Union air carrier shall permit a passenger to carry a musical instrument in the passenger cabin of an aircraft subject to applicable security and safety rules and the technical specifications and constraints of the aircraft concerned. Musical instruments shall be accepted for carriage within an aircraft cabin provided that those instruments can be stowed safely in a suitable baggage compartment within the cabin or under an appropriate passenger seat.
‘Musical instruments shall form part of a passenger’s unchecked baggage allowance. The air carrier may give passengers the possibility to carry another piece of hand baggage in addition to that allowance, subject to possible additional charges.
‘Subject to applicable security and safety rules, where a musical instrument is too large to be stowed safely in a suitable baggage compartment within the cabin or under an appropriate passenger seat, an air carrier may request the payment of a second fare where such musical instruments are carried as unchecked baggage on a second seat… The passenger and the musical instrument shall be seated on adjacent seats and the musical instrument seated on a window seat.
‘Where available and if requested, musical instruments shall be carried in a heated part of an aircraft cargo hold subject to applicable safety rules, space constraints and the technical specifications of the aircraft concerned.’
The full agreement can be read here.
‘The text resulting from the compromise reached between Parliament and the Council confirms most of the progress we secured from Parliament in 2014,’ said Benoît Machuel, FIM’s general secretary. ‘It ensures predictable transport conditions that meet the needs of professional musicians who need to travel by air with their instruments. This is a decisive step to support their mobility across Europe and beyond.’
Anita Debaere, the director of Pearle*, likewise celebrated the news:
‘We welcome the protection of musicians and artists who depend on international travel for their artistic career and applaud the approach of the EU institutions to recognize the specific treatment required for musical instruments. We now look forward to an effective implementation of the regulation after the final agreement, including clear and visible improvements for travelling musicians.’
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