Hundreds of flights were disrupted on Saturday after a pair of scissors went missing at a Japanese airport, media outlets reported.
The incident occurred at New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido, the country’s second-busiest airport for passengers last year, according to Japanese government statistics.
The Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that security checks were suspended for about two hours after scissors went missing from a store in the departure lounge.
The Japanese airline All Nippon Airways said on X that flights could be delayed because of security checks at the airport.
Passengers who’d already been through security had to go through checks again — causing huge queues, the BBC reported.
Both reports said 36 flights were canceled and 201 were delayed.
The disruption became worse because many travelers were flying home after Obon, a Japanese holiday.
Hokkaido Airports said on Monday, two days after the incident, that the scissors were found — in the same store they went missing from, per the national newspaper Nikkan Sports.
NHK reported that the airport operator delayed the announcement because it needed time to confirm that the found scissors were indeed the same pair.
“We recognize that this occurred as a result of insufficient storage and management systems at the store,” Hokkaido Airports said, per 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.”
The BBC report added that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism asked Hokkaido Airports to investigate the cause.
New Chitose Airport didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside Japanese working hours.
AloJapan.com