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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Justin McCurry in Tokyo

Weighty issue: Japan Airlines lays on extra plane after sumo wrestlers make aircraft too heavy to fly

sumo wrestlers
Sumo wrestlers are estimated to weigh an average of 120kg – far more than the 70kg average Japanese person. Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images

Japan’s flagship carrier has been forced to lay on an extra flight at short notice after concluding that two of its planes were at risk of exceeding their weight limits. The culprit was not excess baggage, however, but a passenger list that included some of the country’s heaviest men.

Japan Airlines took the “very unusual” step of transferring a number of sumo wrestlers to a hastily arranged special flight last week over concerns that the two aircraft they had originally been due to fly would be unable to carry sufficient fuel due to weight restrictions.

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