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Weighed down by sumo wrestlers, JAL lays on extra plane
Japan Airlines had to lay on an extra plane to solve a weighty problem.
The airline was flying dozens of sumo wrestlers to a competition.
The flights carrying the wrestlers would have been overweight, the airline said.
A total of 27 sumos were booked on the flights but their average weight was around 120kg, nearly double the average passenger.
It laid on an extra plane to take 14 of them.
They were travelling from Osaka to Amami Oshima, a small island in the south of Japan.
The runway there was not able to take a larger aircraft, so JAL organised an extra plane.
“It is extremely unusual for us to operate special flights due to weight restrictions on this aircraft,” a JAL spokesperson said.
“We found there were many reservations for sumo wrestlers and when we checked their weight we found that the flight might be overweight.”
Amami Oshima is well-known for its sumo wrestling heritage.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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