Authorities continued to search for the two missing scissors, which were found at the store on
36 flights were canceled and 201 delayed after a pair of scissors went missing from a shop near the boarding gates at a Japanese airport.
The incident happened at the domestic terminal of Hokkaido’s New Chitose Airport on Saturday morning local time. Hundreds of travelers were stranded for some time as security checks were suspended for about two hours. Overcrowding at the departure lounge forced passengers to undergo security checks again.
Authorities continued to search for the two missing scissors and said they were found at the store on Sunday.
The scissors were not found all day on Saturday, the day they went missing, but security checks and flights resumed that day.
Hokkaido Airport, director of New Chitose Airport, said on Monday that the missing scissors were found by an employee of the store on Sunday.
Explaining the reason for the delay in making this announcement, the authorities said that they have taken time to ascertain whether the scissors that were lost from the store and the ones that were found are the same.
Travelers heading home after Japan’s ‘sister’ holiday have been left stranded by flight cancellations and delays.
“I don’t think we have any choice but to wait, but I hope they’ll be more careful about them,” one traveler told local media at the time.
Another traveler said, “Lately there have been so many worrying incidents, they never end. I don’t feel safe until I get home.”
Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has asked Hokkaido Airport to investigate the cause of the incident to ensure that such incidents do not happen again.
Social media users praised the airport’s action in the incident with posts on X. Many said it strengthened his belief in Japan’s aviation security.
New Chitose is one of Japan’s busiest airports. In 2022, more than one and a half million people used this airport.
