Vilnius airport halted as unknown aerial object spotted
Lithuania’s main airport closed due to an unidentified aerial object (Illustrative photo: Getty Images)
An unidentified flying balloon was spotted over Vilnius Airport. The airport is closed to arrivals and departures, and flights are being redirected to alternate airports, according to LRT.lt and the Flightradar24 service.
The unknown balloon was seen over the Lithuanian capital’s airspace on the evening of Saturday, October 4.
According to Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC), aerial objects were observed near the town of Baltoji Vokė. He noted that disruptions to air traffic could last several hours.
A representative of the state-owned company Lithuanian Airports (LTOU) stated that flights are currently being redirected to Kaunas and Riga airports.
According to Flightradar24.com, one flight from Türkiye was diverted to Gdańsk Airport. Vilnius Airport is currently investigating the cause of the disruptions, though it is assumed that a balloon may have been flying near the airport.
“Airspace is currently closed, (…) the situation is changing by the minute,” LTOU reported.
A reader of LRT.lt shared that his flight from Dublin to Vilnius was diverted to Riga. After landing in Latvia, the pilot announced that the plane would attempt to return to Vilnius as soon as permission was granted.
However, after 1:00 a.m., the reader reported that buses were arranged for passengers from the Latvian capital.
According to Flightradar24, Vilnius Airport was closed at 01:30 Kyiv time. In the past few hours, eight flights headed for the Lithuanian capital have been redirected.
Flights of unidentified drones
This is not the first incident of flying objects being detected near Vilnius Airport, prompting its closure.
In early September, a plane carrying Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda was unable to land at Vilnius Airport for some time due to a detected drone. Later, Lithuania’s Ministry of Transport reported that the drone was allegedly launched for advertising purposes.
On September 27, the Public Security Service recorded three unauthorized drone flights in the vicinity of Vilnius Airport. A drone sighting was also reported on August 21. In both cases, flights were temporarily suspended, and aircraft were redirected to other airports.
In recent weeks, flights of unidentified drones have been regularly detected near civilian and military airfields and bases across several European countries.
