Under the new policy, added measurements will be taken into account to permit small instruments on board as hand luggage
Following an incident in late November 2025 where she was forced to carry her bare 1782 Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin in her arms on a Lufthansa flight, violinist Carolin Widmann has successfully negotiated with the airline group’s management to amend the hand baggage policy. From 1 March onwards, violin, viola, trumpet and ukulele cases will officially be allowed as hand baggage on all Lufthansa and Lufthansa Group flights.
The change follows Widmann’s open letter to Carsten Spohr, the CEO of the Lufthansa Group, after which she entered communications with a Lufthansa management representative.
Widmann has argued that with a standard measurement of 80cm x 27cm x 16cm, the volume of a violin case is notably smaller than the permitted measurements of 55cm x 40cm x 25cm for hand luggage. According to her latest post on Instagram, Lufthansa will now take this account through the ‘added measurements rule’, whereby the length, height, and depth of the instrument case will be added together, allowing for a combined total of up to 125cm.
Airlines within the Lufthansa Group include SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, ITA Airways and Eurowings.
‘I am deeply grateful that from now on, we musicians can travel on Lufthansa and Lufthansa Group flights and officially take our instrument cases on board,’ she wrote.
‘Thank you all for your support, consolation and encouragement after my Lufthansa posts! It gave me wings and encouraged me to persist and to continue my plight all the way – in the name of all musicians.’
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