A Japanese airline had to make last-minute changes to deal with excess weight — not from luggage, but from a group of passengers who happened to be sumo wrestlers.
Japan Airlines (JAL) realized that two of its planes were at risk of exceeding weight limits transporting fighters heading to Amami Oshima, a southern island, for a sports festival.
Two groups of the total 27 athletes were scheduled to take off on separate flights on October 12 — one from Haneda Airport (HND) in Tokyo and the other from Itami Airport (ITM) in Osaka, the latter being a much smaller, mostly domestic airport.
The sumo wrestlers weighed an average of 120 kilograms each — much more than the average passenger’s 70 kilograms — an airline spokesperson told CNN raising concerns about fuel capacity on smaller aircraft serving flights within Japan.
As it would be difficult for larger planes to take off and land at Amami Regional Airport (ASJ), the main airline decided to transfer 14 of the fighters and have them depart from Haneda Airport, closer to the Tokyo metropolis.
But it was still a struggle on the way back from the sumo festival.
Three high school sumo wrestlers, weighing 140, 130 and 110 kg respectively, told TV Asahi, an affiliate of CNN, that everyone sat next to each other on the flight back from Fukuoka to Haneda on October 15th.
“I think the middle seat was the hardest,” said one of the students, all from mountainous Gunma Prefecture.
“I was joking about possible weight concerns, but it actually became an issue. We had great support, although we are a little tired,” a representative of the Gunma fighters told TV Asahi.
There are no weight or class restrictions in sumo wrestling, but the ancient Japanese sport has been dominated by larger-bodied athletes.
Young aspiring wrestlers, some of whom begin the sport as young as five years old, train in designated sumo stables, where they sleep, eat and practice together almost daily.
Travelers in Japan are not often asked to step on a scale before a flight, but many government airline regulators mandate the practice to collect data.
Earlier this year, Korean Air weighed passengers and their luggage as part of regular security checks. Air New Zealand has also run a similar program with some of its customers flying on its international routes, such as the ultra-long haul between Auckland and New York.
Source: CNN Brasil
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