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Japanese woman loses passport on S'pore-bound flight, only finds out 1 day later
She cleared immigration through facial recognition.
January 28, 2026, 11:53 AM
A Japanese woman left her passport onboard a Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight from Nagoya to Singapore, but only found out one day later on Jan. 15, 2026.
In a Jan. 22 Instagram post captioned "I lost my passport in SQ flight, here is what happened", the woman, Nao, shared her experience with losing her passport.
She didn't find out until she was contacted by SATS' lost and found department, but initially thought it was a scam as she had successfully cleared immigration.
She later realised she'd done so without reaching for her passport, thanks to Changi Airport's passport-less clearance.
"Face ID is so convenient that I didn't even realise I had lost my passport," she quipped.
"Singapore is so safe and efficient, that's one of the reasons I like living here. But sometimes too good in a way."
'I thought it was a scam'
The woman had flown from Nagoya to Singapore and landed at around 4:10pm on Jan. 14.
She successfully cleared immigration without taking out her passport and got home after her long flight.
According to the video, she received an email from SATS' lost and found department at 9:29am the next morning.
SATS informed her that they had found her passport and were holding onto it for safekeeping at their baggage arrival station at Terminal 2.
The email included a QR code to book an appointment for collection.
"I thought it was a scam, turns out I had lost my passport in the airplane," she said.
While grateful for her passport's safe return, Nao expressed concern over her personal data, and wondered how SATS had gotten her email.
"But much appreciate... them though."
Top photo from Naofromjapan/Instagram
