Top Japanese airline executives and the Transport Ministry have decided to ban passengers on domestic flights from bringing knives and tools of any size onto planes, beginning Oct. 16, ministry officials said Monday.
It will be the first time for Japanese airlines to impose a complete ban on taking tools, including screwdrivers, aboard planes.
The companies and the ministry made the decision following the hijacking of an All Nippon Airways jumbo jet from Tokyo to Sapporo in July last year, the officials said.
A 28-year-old man stabbed Capt. Naoyuki Nagashima, 51, to death with a 20-cm knife he smuggled onto the plane. It was the first death in a domestic hijacking.
Until now, airlines have allowed passengers on domestic flights to bring small knives or tools onto aircraft, as long as they did not exceed a certain size, the officials said.
Passengers will be asked to hand such items to airline staff when they check in and pick them up after they arrive at their destination, they said.