Hundreds of flights were disrupted on Saturday after a pair of scissors went missing at a Japanese airport, local media reported.
The incident occurred at New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido, which was the country’s second-busiest airport in terms of passenger numbers last year, according to government statistics.
Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that security checks were suspended for about two hours after a pair of scissors went missing from a shop in the departure hall.
In a post on X, Japanese airline ANA warned its customers that there could be sudden flight delays due to security checks at the airport.
Passengers who had already passed security had to go through the checks again – which, according to the BBC, led to huge queues.
According to both reports, 36 flights were cancelled and 201 were delayed.
The disruption was made worse by the fact that many travelers were flying home for Obon, a Japanese holiday.
Two days after the incident, Hokkaido Airport announced that the scissors had been discovered in the same store from which they had disappeared, according to the national newspaper Nikkan Sports.
According to NHK, the airport operator delayed the announcement because it needed time to confirm that the scissors found were indeed the same one.
“We are aware that this is due to inadequate storage and management systems in the store,” Hokkaido Airports said, according to the BBC. “We are aware that this is also an incident that could be linked to an aircraft hijacking or terrorism and will work again to ensure full management awareness.”
The BBC report added that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism had asked Hokkaido airports to investigate the cause.
New Chitose Airport did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside of Japanese business hours.
