Another Japanese airline removes passenger refusing to wear face mask

An airline in Japan on Saturday removed a male passenger who refused to wear a face mask from a domestic flight, airline officials said Monday. A subsidiary of Japan Airlines said it forced the passenger to disembark from the flight before it took off on Saturday afternoon in northern Japan because he refused requests by the flight crew to put on a mask and would not say why. “We decided that (the man’s) actions ended up disrupting order on the plane,” an official of Hokkaido Air System said. “If there was an explanation, we would have made adjustments for him to take the flight without a mask, such as reserving other seats for him.” The male passenger, however, said after the incident that he often develops a rash or feels suffocated when he wears a mask, adding he did not want to talk about his condition in front of other passengers. The flight, connecting Okushiri and Hakodate in Hokkaido departed about 30 minutes behind schedule with 21 passengers aboard, according to the company.<br/>