Jetstar Asia Airways apologized Thursday for refusing to allow a 38-year-old man with cerebral palsy to board a flight from Bangkok to Japan last year.
Freelance writer Kenichi Okubo said he was not allowed to board a flight to Fukuoka on Sept. 10, after traveling to the Thai capital in August for work and sightseeing.
Okubo spent the night on a bench at Bangkok airport before being allowed to take another flight the next day.
At a press conference Thursday in Osaka, Okubo said when he asked the Singapore-based low-cost airline, an affiliate of Australia's Qantas Airways, why he was prevented from boarding the earlier flight, he was told an escort was needed.
But Okubo said when making the flight reservation, he had informed the airline that he would be traveling alone, and had no problem on the flight to Thailand.
In a statement, Jetstar Asia Airways apologized for "being unable to provide utmost care to a passenger who needs special care."
Okubo and his legal team assert the case amounts to discrimination against physically impaired travelers, and to prevent a similar incident, Okubo has asked the Japan Federation of Bar Associations to investigate the matter as a human rights violation.