They may have to start calling it the mile-thigh club.
A Japanese airline had to book an extra flight for a large group of extra large Sumo wrestlers after they determined that the wrestlers exceeded the weight limit for the two aircraft.
Japan Airlines passenger planes sit on the tarmac at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on August 1, 2023. (KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images)
According to Japan News, the wrestlers were flying from Tokyo to Osaka to attend the Special National Sports Festival on Amami Ōshima Island. However, as the airline began booking the athletes, they realized that each wrestler weighed 264 pounds on average, 100 pounds more than the weight of their average passenger.
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This prompted officials to believe that extra planes were necessary.
“It is extremely unusual for us to operate special flights due to the weight restrictions on this aircraft,” an airline representative told a local news outlet.
A total of 14 wrestlers flew aboard the extra plane.
In all, 460 wrestlers made the trip to Amami Oshima Island for the sports festival. It’s unclear how many flights it took to get them all there, but at 264 pounds per wrestler and 14 wrestlers per plane, that comes out to…a lot.