Vilnius Airport halts flights over balloons from Belarus
Vilnius Airport suspended operations due to balloons from Belarus (photo: Getty Images)
Vilnius Airport suspended operations due to dozens of smugglers' balloons in the airspace over the airport from the direction of Belarus, Reuters reported.
"Operations have been disrupted due to weather balloons used to smuggle cigarettes from Belarus," the Lithuanian National Crisis Management Center (NCMC) said in a statement.
In the evening and at night, eight flights were redirected, including to Lithuania's Kaunas Airport and to Warsaw, the operator of Vilnius Airport told the agency. After that, Lithuania closed its border crossings with Belarus.
"The decision will be reviewed after the airport resumes operations," the NCMC told journalists.
Flights of unidentified drones in Lithuanian airspace
This is not the first such case of flying objects being detected near Vilnius Airport, with the airfield subsequently closed.
Vilnius Airport was also closed on October 5 due to a similar incident involving helium balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes from Belarus.
At the beginning of September, a plane carrying Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda was unable to land at Vilnius Airport for some time due to a drone detection.
Later, Lithuania's Ministry of Transport and Communications reported that the drone had allegedly been launched for advertising purposes.
On September 27, the Public Security Service recorded three prohibited drone flights in the area of Vilnius Airport. A drone flight was also reported on August 21. In both cases, flights were temporarily suspended and planes were redirected to other airports.
