How to transport a guitar on a plane: methods, recommendations. There is a place for a guitar: Aeroflot has simplified the rules for transporting musical instruments How to transport musical instruments on an airplane

From the point of view of any airline, a guitar is an oversized cargo. At the same time, it is a musical instrument. And like any other musical instrument, the guitar requires special care when flying on an airplane.

Carrying a guitar on an airplane as hand luggage

Tip 1. The safest thing for the condition of the instrument will be if the guitar flies on an airplane with its owner in the passenger seat. Almost all air carriers allow this.

At the same time, in more detail, how to transport a guitar on a plane of a particular airline is best check at the time of booking your flight tickets.

The help desk will tell you whether you can take your guitar on a plane and how it should be packed. Most often, it is enough for a guitar to be transported in the cabin of an airplane to be placed in a special case, weigh no more than 75-80 kg and have dimensions that allow it to be placed in a passenger seat.

Tip 2. Not all airlines accept guitars with this weight and a size of no more than 135 x 50 x 30 cm for carriage. Therefore, in principle, it is better to inquire about the possibility of transporting a guitar before purchasing a plane ticket.

Tip 3. If you decide to take your guitar on board the plane with you, make sure you pay for it in advance. additional passenger seat.

IMPORTANT! Any musical instrument will be allowed into the aircraft cabin only by the passenger accompanying him. Thus, simply sending a guitar by plane in the cabin of an airplane, like a parcel, without a passenger carrying it, will not work.

Some nuances of the conditions for transporting a guitar on an airplane

1. You can purchase an additional ticket for transporting a guitar on an airplane only at the ticket office. Additional tickets are not sold online.

2. When paying for an additional seat to transport a guitar on an airplane, additional hand luggage is not provided.

3. Not available for additional tickets and free luggage.

4. There are no discounts for paid additional space.

5. The owner of the guitar will load the guitar onto and unload it from the plane.

6. During check-in for the plane, an additional seat must be obtained. boarding pass.

Carrying a guitar in the luggage compartment of an airplane

A guitar to be carried in luggage must be registered as oversized cargo .

To keep the musical instrument safe, it must be placed in a hard case or trunk and marked when checked in as baggage with a special “fragile cargo” icon. In addition, most airlines may require the owner of the guitar to sign that he will not make any claims against the air carrier regarding the conditions of transportation of the instrument.

Tip 4. If the guitar being transported is an expensive musical instrument It is advisable to insure before the flight it in case of accidental damage.

Most musical instruments can now be transported in the cabin

Aeroflot has increased the size of musical instruments allowed for carriage on board an aircraft - from 115 to 135 cm based on the sum of length, width and height. In addition, the carrier has relaxed the requirements for those instruments whose size exceeds the permissible parameters. Their placement in the cabin is possible depending on the type of aircraft and technical capabilities at the request of the passenger 36 hours before departure.

Previously, the musicians asked Aeroflot to allow them to carry musical instruments in hand luggage racks. “To meet the numerous wishes of the best musical groups that make up the pride of Russia, Aeroflot has decided to increase the size of musical instruments transported as hand luggage in the sum of 3 dimensions, which will make it possible to transport most of the musical instruments in the aircraft cabin,” noted the statement. Aeroflot.

The airline explained that if a musical instrument is transported as hand luggage, such a musical instrument is the only piece of hand luggage allowed for transportation in the aircraft cabin. The new rules come into force on February 15, 2018 and correspond to the best global practices of leading air carriers, Aeroflot added.

The airline’s website has already posted new rules: “Musical instruments are transported both in the luggage compartment and in the passenger cabin. When transporting musical instruments in the passenger cabin, the transportation rules for baggage carried in the passenger seat apply. When transported in a passenger seat, the weight of the tool should not exceed 80 kg, dimensions should not exceed 135x50x30 cm. When transported in the luggage compartment, the weight of the tool should not exceed 50 kg.”

She collected almost 10 thousand signatures on the Internet demanding that Russian musicians be allowed to carry musical instruments up to 125 cm long in the cabin luggage racks. The petition was sent to Aeroflot CEO Vitaly Savelyev. The fact is that recently clarifications appeared in the airline’s set of rules stating that such cargo can be carried in the aircraft cabin, but for an additional fee - the price of a separate seat. Otherwise, the passenger must check the instrument in their luggage.

As told by NSN Aeroflot press secretary Maxim Fetisov, the airline adopted such standards based on flight safety.

“These standards are used not only by Aeroflot, but also by almost all airlines in the world. These standards were adopted not just from the head, but on the basis of flight safety. These are international rules, which, among other things, are adopted by Aeroflot,” explained NSN Fetisov.

Meanwhile, the problem of transporting instruments is a pressing issue for musicians.

“I didn’t sign the petitions, I don’t know how effective they are, but I, of course, am also for this topic, as a musician,” said NSN leader of the group “Serga” Sergei Galanin. — Various things happened with the group, but I personally switched to a small-sized guitar, although it wasn’t forced, but it happened that way. This topic doesn’t concern me personally right now, but it does concern the group. It seems to me that a guitar in a soft case is worthy of respect and takes up a little space,” says Galinin.

And here leader of the group "Pilot" Ilya Chert suggested creating another petition.

“I don’t know what this petition will lead to, because I understand perfectly well that dragging huge keyboards or four guitars into the cabin of an airplane is problematic. I would sign a petition to have the airline penalized for damage caused when loading or unloading instruments. This, unfortunately, happens all the time,” says NSN Ilya Chert.

“When I fly somewhere, I carry my acoustic guitar in the cabin of the plane. I also drove it with Aeroflot, and they let me into the cabin without extra payment. The flight attendants are kind, so you can put them either behind the back seats or where they hang clothes, but most often you can even put them where your hand luggage is. A couple of times, however, there was a row, they said that I had to buy a separate place, but then they let me through. When I’m alone, there were no problems, but when we fly in a group, there are problems - we can’t take all the instruments into the cabin of the plane. We check them in as luggage in hard cases, and these cases have broken dozens of times. All musicians who travel around the country probably know that there are two damned airports - Vnukovo and Pulkovo, instruments are always broken there,” said NSN Ilya Chert.

Supported the petition and leader of the group "Casual" Alexey Yashin.

“I have a very expensive instrument, brought from America, and checking it in as luggage is a very big risk and impractical. The company’s new rules cause discomfort and, of course, I signed the petition, because a musician’s instrument is an integral part of him, and I think it’s wrong to part with it even on a plane. No company can guarantee the safety of instruments in the luggage compartment; they are all quite fragile and expensive. There were many cases of damage, this also affected our group, including,” said NSN Alexey Yashin.

According to the transportation rules posted on the airline's website, musical instruments are classified as non-standard baggage. Their transportation in the cabin is allowed only in the passenger seat and for a fee. There is no need to pay a service fee for an additional ticket. Currently, baggage allowed for free carriage in the cabin baggage rack in the sum of three dimensions should not exceed 115 centimeters.

Any traveling pilgrim or collector has the right to transport his treasure or the meaning of his whole life - a guitar, taking it as hand luggage into the aircraft cabin, placing it next to him on a nearby seat. But it is better to send a large tool, like cargo, to the luggage compartment. This article explains how to transport a guitar on an airplane.

Large tools require separate space

Rules for transporting a seven-string

Many performers of art songs, when they travel around the country with concerts, are interested in a question that worries equally both gypsies who consider the seven-string instrument to be their heart and modern Romeos: “How to carry a guitar on a plane , so there won't be any problems?

You are allowed to carry equipment on board the plane that fits into the hand luggage limit, approximately this is only a piece of luggage, the size of which is 20x40x55 cm and weighs about 10 kg when flying in economy class.
The guitar can be sheathed or packed like carry-on luggage. And only then the instrument is carried free of charge.
The tourist pays for a place in the luggage compartment if he checks in his seven-string girlfriend there.

Although some companies make an exception. For example, Iberia may allow guitars on planes , if the passenger is flying light.

Iberia airliner

If a passenger is carrying musical equipment that exceeds the weight limit of hand luggage, as an exception, it can be taken on the plane for an additional fee. Some airlines allow you to purchase one more piece of hand luggage. For example, when traveling on flights of companies such as Ryanair, you need to buy a seat on board the plane for small musical instruments.

AirBaltic also offers the opportunity to purchase one more piece of hand luggage. This service costs 60 euros when a traveler checks in at the airport or saves 20 euros when checking in online. Although it is still better not to transport the guitar with you on the plane.

We carry a guitar in the luggage compartment

You need to check in your luggage:

oversized covered musical equipment;
in contour cases;
in packages that guarantee the integrity of the instrument during the flight.

Before traveling, you need to clarify how you can transport your instrument. As popular wisdom says: “You don’t go to someone else’s monastery with your own rules.” That is, each airline has its own rules.

Carrying a guitar on an airplane will be comfortable if you transport it in a special case for special transportation or check it in as delicate luggage. You can buy such a case in a specialized store.

You can find special devices for transportation in specialized stores.

When traveling on Aegean Airlines, a musician, when registering, signs a Limited Realease Form, where the traveler guarantees that he will not make any claims regarding the conditions of transportation of musical equipment.

You must pay for the transportation of instruments in accordance with the rules for transporting fixed baggage. There are some airlines that treat a guitar as if it were a piece of baggage included in the free baggage allowance. Others allow the transport of musical instruments. tools no more than 45 kg.

Before transporting your guitar, you need to make sure the case is secure.

If the guitar is transported on an airplane in the luggage compartment, the passenger can, if desired, indicate the value of the luggage. This service is paid, the amount on average is a tenth of the agreed cost, but the owner of the instrument is guaranteed compensation for damage if the instrument gets damaged during transportation.

Expensive instruments should definitely be evaluated.

You must pay for space in the cargo compartment in accordance with current regulations.

Now the reader may ask the question: “So, is it possible to take a guitar on a plane or not?” You can answer this question in one word: “Yes,” without going into small details. But we will further explain some of the nuances that may occur during the flight.

A cellist, trumpeter, bandura player, violinist or collector of rare musical instruments purchases another ticket. In this case, the case with musical equipment must weigh less than 80 kg and must fit in the passenger seat.

But some airlines provide transportation of musical equipment on the plane on an adjustable seat weighing up to 75 kg. There are airlines whose weight barrier reaches 46 kg.

Tickets for additional seats are sold without discounts at the airline's ticket office or travel agency.

Some instruments are considered public property and are not subject to illegal border crossing

The owner must load and unload the musical treasure independently. You can watch for yourself how the tool is loaded and unloaded. Musical equipment must be carried by an accompanying passenger using an additional ticket.

If the guitar has historical or cultural value, then it cannot be exported abroad without the approval of Rosokhrankultura. Permission must be obtained. It is best, of course, to obtain a passport for a musical instrument to avoid problems abroad.

Recently, musicians touring Europe have the right to take small instruments with them on the plane.

In contact with

During the next flight, I encountered new nuances of transporting an instrument, and in light of frequent issues regarding the interaction between a guitar and an airplane, I decided to write a corresponding article.

Basically, you need to fly somewhere, and your guitar will be with you. In total, I see several ways to transport tools:

Take it with you to the cabin as hand luggage.
Check it in as luggage in a hard case.
Disassemble and check in as luggage in a suitcase along with your belongings.
Send separately by courier service.

Let's start with the last method. In principle, there is nothing tricky here and I would not note any pitfalls, but there are several serious disadvantages. The first is the timing: you will either need to send the guitar earlier than you fly, in order to then receive it approximately on the day of arrival already on the spot, or, having sent it literally before the flight, wait for delivery: as a rule, even fast services will not bring it to you for 1-2 days, and if some are delivered, the shipping cost will be very serious. The second disadvantage is that you actually have to pay money. Third, you need to bother, call a courier, pack it (if they don’t do this themselves or you have doubts about the packaging), or even go to the service office and hand it over, wasting time again, filling out papers, and so on. If we are talking about traveling abroad, then you will probably also have to think about the topic of customs clearance. Well, there is a small plus, but there is a small chance that the guitar will be broken or lost, so you will also need to worry about insurance.

Next, about checking in luggage. Personally, during that period of my life when I went on tour, I almost always checked my guitar in my luggage. At the same time, you need to be aware that everything that happens to your things will look something like this:

This video, in fact, was filmed after one of the flights during the tour, right from the airplane window. One way or another, the clothes will most likely fly happily either during loading or unloading, or at the airport.

I handed over the guitar in a hard case, closing it with a lock so that the case would not accidentally open. At the same time, I did not cover it with polyethylene and, in principle, everything was always fine. Over the course of a year and a half, the case took a fair amount of beating, the lining was torn, but the case itself was made to last, and apparently even the bravest throwers would not be able to break it.

Once, when I was flying to visit Moscow, I was too lazy to bother with cases, so I did it simply: I took the guitar apart and put it together with my things in a regular suitcase. Everything fit and packed perfectly, since I was flying with a small amount of clothes, but it looked quite funny:

Of course, if the guitar’s neck is through or glued in, then such a thing will no longer work, although my comrades say that tough guys dismantle such instruments for the road, but are completely berserkers and put them back together :)

One unpleasant nuance should be noted here, namely: I personally would not recommend doing this too often, since wood is still not metal and the threads for the screws can become quite loose.

Well, the most obvious and widely used method for many is to take a guitar in a soft case with you on the plane. Before doing this, I would recommend researching the airline's policies on this topic in detail. The fact is that hand luggage must have certain dimensions and weight, which a guitar obviously cannot fit into, primarily in terms of length. Formally, this means that you cannot take it with you, but in practice things are somewhat different.

From my own experience, in 99% of cases there were no questions for me at airports and I calmly received my tag for hand luggage and went into the cabin. But there were cases when an airline employee at the airport said even at the check-in stage that it would not be possible to bring the instrument onto the plane. This does not always depend on the employee’s menstrual cycle, mood or general viciousness, and sometimes can be completely dictated by certain circumstances.

The last such situation arose just two weeks ago, when I was flying with S7 to Moscow. A girl working at an airline immediately warned us when checking in our luggage that the plane was literally packed and there was simply nowhere to stick a guitar even if we wanted to. To this I replied that I had flown on planes of this type (Airbus A320s usually fly between my cities) so many times that I could find my row with my eyes closed, and that the guitar clearly fit into the overhead bin.

Actually, the girl was absolutely adequate and competent, saying that the salon would now be filled with so much stuff that it would probably not fall on your head. In principle, the situation is quite probable, knowing the passion of our people to take with them on a plane so much clothes that would be enough for a year-round wardrobe. But there was nowhere to go: there was no reason to check the guitar in a soft case into luggage, which the girl was immediately informed about, and that the guitar would absolutely not go along the luggage belt.

Formally, she was again right: the instrument does not fit the dimensions, according to the rules it must be returned. In such situations, it seems to me, everything depends to a greater extent on the ability to negotiate: diplomacy decides everything. After another radical press on the girl, she suggested that I call the airline’s hotline from her phone and ask them a question about whether she was right or wrong, which we did. At the other end of the line they confirmed that she was completely right and in such situations the issue of bringing a guitar into the salon is decided on the spot by a company employee at his own discretion.

The girl was immediately asked a question about what her discretion depended on: the weather, the color of my eyes, and so on. In general, in the end, we agreed that she would personally wait for me near the plane at the landing, where we would either try to resolve the issue of placing the instrument in the cabin through the flight attendants, or she would personally send and place the guitar in the luggage compartment, without loaders, and will warn the crew that the instrument will have to be given to me immediately upon arrival, in person.

In principle, I was completely satisfied with this option and I went to board with a calm soul. At the plane we actually met with this madammoiselle again, but upon entering the plane, the flight attendants immediately took the trunk from me and assured me that they would take care of everything themselves and place her somewhere in the cabin.

Having finally entered the cabin, I understood why the girl was really serious about not letting me and my guitar onto the plane: it felt like I was on a plane on which refugees from the war were being evacuated. I have never seen so many clothes in my life: bags, suitcases, backpacks, bags: they were everywhere. It was some kind of clothing hell, a separate branch of the Cherkizovsky market in an airliner.

As befits our undoubtedly free and extraordinary personalities, even before takeoff they immediately turned into brutes, and there were a couple of scandals about how someone had filled the shelves above their heads to capacity with clothes and now there was no room, but I came and where should I go now? put the bag on, happened on earth. Again, as befits cultured people, these issues were resolved exclusively in hysterical mode, in raised voices, with a waterfall of obscenities and threats. All you had to do was call one of the guides and ask them to find a place. By the way, this is their responsibility, since the placement of things is part of ensuring flight safety: in the event of an emergency, any unsecured suitcase can start flying around the cabin and knock off a couple of heads of innocent passengers.

Oh, by the way, anyone wondering why they ask you to put away laptops, iPads, cameras, etc. during takeoff and landing - that’s exactly why. Imagine a metal MacBook that, during emergency braking on takeoff (the brakes are cooler than a Ferrari), will fly into someone’s temple.

In general, even in this case, I managed to amicably, politely and calmly resolve the issue of transporting the instrument; I immediately issued a letter of gratitude to the girl and the crew, since people work and it’s generally unclear to me how they maintain their sanity, each time flying in such a cattle shed.

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