Airline in Japan created extra flight for sumo wrestlers – There was a fear that the planes would not take off due to weight

Overweight passengers are rarely an issue on flights to Japan, where obesity is not common. However, when Japan Airlines officials realized that a large group of wrestlers sumo would fly on regular flights they decided to add an extra to the schedule as they were worried that the planes they might not take off.

The sumo rikishi had booked seats on Boeing 737-800 flights between an airport in Tokyo and the airport in Osaka, where they were to compete in a sports festival, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported and The Times reported.

But concerns were raised about the potential for fuel capacity when staff learned late Thursday that the passenger lists included sumo wrestlers, which they estimated weighed an average of 120 kg, well above the average of 70 kg, noted.

The airport’s runway would struggle to accommodate a larger aircraft, the newspaper said, forcing Japan Airlines to put on an extra flight for 27 sumo wrestlers, including 14 who had to fly from Osaka to Tokyo to board the special flight.

Extremely unusual

“It is extremely unusual for us to put on extra flights due to weight restrictions on the aircraft”a JAL spokesman told the Minami-Nippon Shimbun newspaper.

Additional flights were also made for the return of sumo wrestlers after the tournament ended on Sunday (10/15), according to Japanese media.

But this is not the first time that the sumo team has been in the news. In 2014, a photo of sumo wrestlers crammed into a small passenger plane went viral.

There is no minimum weight required to become a sumo wrestler. But the ancient Japanese sport mostly has heavier men. ÅŒrora, a Russian-born rikishi who retired in 2018, is the heaviest ever at 292.6kg.


Source: News Beast

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