Scissors scare at Japanese airport: chaos, delays and cancellations
2:38 PM EDT, August 21, 2024
A serious disruption occurred at New Chitose Airport in Sapporo. It all started when a store employee reported a missing pair of scissors to security.
According to local media, chaos ensued shortly after a store employee located in the airside area of the airport reported the missing scissors. This information prompted an immediate response from airport authorities.
Chaos erupted at the Japanese airport
The security procedures at Japan's New Chitose Airport are exceptionally stringent, which is why airport authorities decided to take the situation very seriously. As a result, all services were placed on high alert.
When the search for the scissors yielded no results, it was decided to evacuate passengers from the restricted area of the terminal and halt security checks, then repeat the procedure. Passengers had to go through security screening once again. The repeated action was intended to help find the missing item.
The disruption affected several thousand travelers
However, these measures did not succeed, and the scissors were not found. After about two hours, normal airport operations resumed, but delays and flight cancellations were inevitable.
As a result, as many as 190 flights were delayed, and 35 flights were completely canceled. These disruptions affected several thousand travelers, causing significant changes to their plans.
New Chitose Airport in Sapporo is one of the largest airports in Japan. In 2023, it handled 22.3 million passengers.
Source: Paddle Your Own Kanoo, Fly4free
