A pair of missing scissors at New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido, Japan, led to hundreds of flight delays on a recent Saturday. The scissors, which disappeared from a store in the airport’s departure lounge, prompted a suspension of security checks for approximately two hours, according to local media reports.
New Chitose Airport is Japan’s second busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic. The missing scissors incident caused significant disruption, with airline ANA alerting passengers via social media about potential delays or cancellations due to the security checks.
The BBC reported that the incident resulted in the cancellation of 36 flights and the delay of 201. Despite the missing scissors not being located, security checks and flights resumed later that day. Passengers who had already undergone security checks were required to do so again, leading to lengthy queues.
The incident occurred during the busy travel period following the Japanese holiday, Obon, adding to the chaos. Two days after the scissors went missing, they were found by an employee in the same store from which they had disappeared, according to national newspaper Nikkan Sports.
The airport delayed the announcement of the found scissors as they needed to confirm that they were the same pair that had gone missing, as reported by NHK. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has requested that Hokkaido Airports investigate the incident to prevent a similar occurrence in the future.
Hokkaido Airport acknowledged the incident, attributing it to inadequate storage and management systems at the store. The airport told the BBC, “We are aware that this is also an incident that could be linked to hijacking or terrorism, and will once again work to ensure thorough management awareness.”