Violin carry-on

Further to Simon Hoggart's report ( Diary , 4 September) of the music student who missed her Ryanair flight while trying to buy a seat for her violin, readers should know that the £80 fee payable in advance for travelling with a musical instrument is for checking it into the hold, not taking it on board. My ward and two schoolmates travelling to a music course in Italy, who had paid this fee and had no hand luggage other than their violin cases, were asked by Ryanair, when they checked in, to pay £300 each to buy seats for their instruments. Eventually they were permitted to check their violin cases into the hold and carry their violins – worth thousands of pounds – unprotected on their laps. Meanwhile the lockers above their seats were completely empty. Jane Ginsborg Sheffield