There seems to be no immediate end in sight to the problems faced by seven students of Chetham's School of Music who are still awaiting the return of their instruments following a flight back from a recent tour to Italy.

No sign

Six trombones and a tuba were meant to accompany them back on a Lufthansa flight at Naples Airport — but over 25 days later there is still no sign of them, despite repeated calls and emails to find out where they may be.

The students were part of the Chetham's Symphonic Brass Ensemble, who were in Italy to perform at the Giardini la Mortella on the island of Ischia, created by Susana Walton, the wife of English composer, William Walton.

However, when the group arrived back at Manchester via a connecting flight at Frankfurt, there was no sign of the instruments or a suitcase. They were then informed that the instruments were still in Frankfurt.

Kafkaesque

From then on however it became a somewhat Kafkaesque tale of impenetrable bureaucracy and misinformation Tom Redmond, joint principal and Director of Music saying that situation is now in danger of putting the future of some students to get into higher education, in jeopardy.

"Prior to the trip, we knew the trombones and tuba would be going in the hold,"Redmond told Classic FM.

"But we organised with the airline that although the instruments would be going in the hold, we wanted to be able to carry them to the steps of the play, just to ensure that they were safe."

He added: "We were able to do this when we left Manchester airport a few days prior, but when we were returning from Naples airport, we were told we wouldn't be able to do this.

So we took the instruments down a corridor to the oversized baggage counter where they were x-rayed, scanned, and tagged."

Very sorry

Although Lufthansa has since said that they were "very sorry"that staff shortages had meant that "many baggage items could not be delivered as planned", it seems in this case they cannot even locate the six trombones and tuba.

Despite numerous calls to Lufthansa every two to three days since 1st July, they are yet to receive any direct response to their problems from the airline. Tom Redmond has even emailed the CEO of the airline, to no avail.

Despite numerous calls to Lufthansa every two to three days since 1st July, they are yet to receive any direct response to their problems from the airline4BR

Jeopardy

"Four students' pathways into higher education are being jeopardised by this situation,"Redmond explained to Classic FM.

"And it's not just about the instruments, the cases are worth hundreds of pounds, and then there are mouthpieces and accessories that are integral to these musicians playing that they need to practice with."

Once luggage has been missing for over 21 days, Lufthansa officially classes the items as 'lost', and this distinction has led to extra forms needing to be filled.