TOKYO (WSN) – Over the weekend, 36 flights were canceled and 201 were delayed at a Japan airport after a pair of scissors went missing from a store near the boarding gates.
Security checks at Hokkaido’s New Chitose Airport domestic terminal were halted for approximately two hours on Saturday morning, leaving hundreds of travelers stranded temporarily.
The disruption caused significant bottlenecks and long queues as passengers in the departure area had to go through security checks again.
Authorities searched for the missing scissors, which were eventually located at the same store the following day.
Although the scissors were not found on Saturday, security checks and flights resumed later that day.
Hokkaido Airport announced on Monday that the scissors had been discovered by a store employee on Sunday. Authorities delayed the announcement until they could confirm that the recovered scissors were indeed the missing ones.
Many travelers affected by the cancellations and delays were returning home after Japan’s annual Bon holiday.
“I don’t think we have any choice but to wait,” one traveler told local media. “But I do hope they are a bit more careful about these things.”
Another traveler remarked, “So many things to worry about these days… it never ends. And I don’t feel safe until I get home.”
