MANILA, Philippines — Cebu Pacific (CEB) on Thursday reminded passengers traveling with musical instruments to avail of the airline's Special Baggage option when booking flights.
This reminder follows complaints from members of the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) regarding a baggage policy that prevented them from bringing their instruments' hard-shell cases into the aircraft cabin.
The incident occurred on June 17, 2026, when nine members of the orchestra were stopped by ground staff at the boarding gate because their hard-shell violin cases exceeded the airline's standard cabin baggage dimensions.
According to reports, personnel instructed the musicians to check in the protective hard cases. This forced the musicians to remove their violins and bows and hand-carry them completely bare into the cabin.
The event sparked significant backlash online. Rona de Leon, the orchestra's production manager, posted that despite traveling multiple times locally and internationally, they had never faced such a restriction before.
In response, Cebu Pacific defended its handling of the situation, clarifying that the cases were checked in free of charge as a practical solution since their dimensions violated standard carry-on safety limits.
"With regard to the recent incident, all passengers carrying violins were able to board their flights and travel as scheduled. Some violin cases met the hand-carry size limit of 56cm x 36cm x 23cm and were allowed onboard," CEB said in a statement.
The budget carrier added that for violins exceeding the size limit, the airport team worked with the passengers to find a solution. The empty cases were checked in free of charge, while the instruments themselves were carefully hand-carried by the passengers into the cabin.
However, CEB noted that the group had not prepared for the size limits beforehand. "None of them booked musical instruments in their booking. The traveling orchestra did not coordinate their instruments with the airline," the budget carrier said via Viber.
To avoid similar issues, the airline advised passengers carrying large musical instruments to purchase the Musical Instrument allowance through CEB Special Baggage.
According to the airline, this option can be added during the initial booking process on the CEB mobile app right after entering personal information.
"We understand that musical instruments are often valuable and deeply personal belongings. We encourage passengers to review baggage size requirements before traveling so we can help ensure a smooth and comfortable journey for both them and their instruments," CEB said.