The cellist was travelling with her family to perform at the Belgrade Music Festival
On 14 October, Serbian cellist Maja Bogdanović was due to fly from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to Belgrade, Serbia, through KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM). In addition to her cello, Bogdanović was accompanied by her husband, Dutch-British violinist Daniel Rowland, and their two children aged one and three. Although a seat had been booked for the cello and confirmed by KLM, Bogdanovic was ultimately barred from her flight.
According to Bogdanović, she and her family arrived early at the airport, but staff at the desk were unable to check her in for the flight. Following half an hour of phone calls, with staff insisting that the ‘cello reservation wasn’t done properly’, they were relegated to standby due to overbooking – despite having gold and platinum status with KLM.
Rowland volunteered to rebook on an evening flight, with the hope that Bogdanović, the cello, and the children would be able to make the earlier flight. He then readied to leave the airport, as the others were hurried through security to the boarding gate. However, airport staff then called him back and allowed him to join the flight on standby as well, and so Rowland likewise hurried through airport security.
At the boarding gate the situation was still unclear, as they did not have any assigned seats for the flight, and there were six other passengers on standby as well. According to Bogdanović, she and Rowland pleaded with boarding gate staff to ensure they could make it on to the flight, as Bogdanović was needed at a rehearsal later that day, with a performance at the Belgrade Music Festival (BEMUS) the very next day on 15 October.
In response, they were reportedly dismissed rudely with the threat of airport security being brought in to remove them. When it came to boarding the shuttles to access the flight, the six others on standby were permitted to proceed, but Bogdanović and her family were unable to board.
Bogdanović and Rowland took the matter further at the KLM transfer desk, at which point an apologetic KLM spokesperson stated that there had never been anything wrong with their booking and, due to the type of booking made, they should never have been placed on standby. Although it remained unclear where the issue had arisen, it was noted that it may have been a fault on the part of KLM. Bogdanović and her family were subsequently rebooked for an evening flight.
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