Although we have heard of airports temporarily suspending operations due to security incidents, this has to be one of the strangest incidents of its kind we have ever witnessed…
Hokkaido Airport closed due to lost scissors
This incident occurred on Saturday, August 17, 2024, at New Chitose Airport (CTS) in Hokkaido, Japan. Shortly after 10 a.m. local time, a shop in the departure area (behind the security checkpoint) reported that a pair of scissors had gone missing. This incident somehow led to the airport being closed.
Operations at the airport were suspended and passengers already inside the airport had to go through security again to be searched for the scissors. The scissors were never found, but the airport resumed operations about two hours later, at around 12 noon local time.
In total, 35 flights were cancelled and 190 flights were delayed due to this incident. This weekend was particularly bad for such an incident as it was a busy holiday travel period and flights were therefore overcrowded.
What a strange security situation at the airport
Usually when an airport closes for security reasons, it’s because someone has a gun, there’s a bomb threat, or something like that. In this case, I wonder how a missing pair of scissors can trigger such a drastic reaction.
For example, airport-side restaurants usually don’t have sharp knives (like steak knives) for guests to use, as they aren’t allowed to go through security. Sometimes there are knives for the chefs, but they are tied to surfaces so they can’t be removed.
In this case, did a store simply have a “loose” pair of scissors for staff and then the employees noticed that they were missing? Or how can scissors that were allowed in the airport area from the beginning cause such a situation? Also interesting is that they just gave up after not being able to find anything for two hours…
Conclusion
It was a rough weekend at New Chitose Airport in Japan after a pair of scissors went missing from a shop. This was reported to the authorities, resulting in all passengers being checked a second time and operations being suspended for two hours. In the end, 35 flights were cancelled and nearly 200 flights were delayed.
What do you think about this scissor situation at the Japanese airport?
