PUBLISHED ONJanuary 29, 2026 8:40 AMBYEsther LamA Japanese woman returning to Singapore left her passport on board a Singapore Airlines plane and only found out about the missing document the next day when she was contacted by ground handling company Sats.
In an Instagram video on Jan 21, lifestyle content creator @naofromjapan_, who moved to Singapore seven years ago for work, captioned: "Singapore is truly safe and efficient. I love Face ID, but sometimes it works a little too well."
In the 41-second clip, Nao recounted the incident: "I landed with Singapore Airlines, cleared immigration with face ID (and) didn't even take my passport out."
The next morning, she received an email from Sats at 9.29am informing her that her passport had been found and that it was being held at Sats' baggage arrival services office in Changi Airport Terminal 2.
The email also provided a QR code and link for her to book an appointment for collection.
Nao, who did not realise that she had lost her passport, said: "I thought it was a scam. Turns out, I had lost my passport in the airplane. I went back to Changi and they had it ready for me."
Since September 2024, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority has fully implemented passport-less clearance across all four of Changi Airport's terminals.
This allows arriving and departing Singapore residents to clear immigration solely by using facial and iris biometrics. All foreign visitors can also enjoy passport-less clearance when they depart Singapore.
AsiaOne has reached out to Nao for more information.
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