The 19-year-old said he found out what was happening through a text from his father, who had been evacuated from the airport.
The passengers spent about 20 minutes on board before they could disembark. Josh said he had not been worried, as he doubted anyone would want to harm an airport the size of Hawke's Bay's.
Airport Operations Manager Olivia Pierre said Sunday's evacuation appeared to have gone smoothly, and while there would always be learnings, correct process was followed.
She said the bag had been discovered by their security team. When no one claimed it, an initial assessment was carried out, before the police were called.
The bag was reunited with its owner yesterday morning. Ms Pierre said the owner lived far away from the airport, and so had not realised for a while that his bag was missing.
"It's just a timely reminder that we're a security conscious airport," she said. "Any unattended bags are treated as potentially serious, so people should be reminded to keep your bags close to yourself."
She added putting name tags on bags was also a good idea, as it meant owners could be easily identified, and situations like Sunday's avoided.