Balloon Threat at Vilnius Airport: Flights Suspended for Hours
Vilnius Airport temporarily suspended its operations on Sunday due to balloons entering Lithuanian airspace from Belarus. The airspace restriction was first imposed at 18:09 and was initially planned to last until 21:00. However, it was later extended to 23:00 and finally until 01:00 by the decision of the National Crisis Management Center (NCMC).
Reported from Lithuania by Dunyatimes Correspondent Hüseyin Sayın
Vilnius Airport temporarily suspended its operations on Sunday due to balloons entering Lithuanian airspace from Belarus. The airspace restriction was first imposed at 18:09 and was initially planned to last until 21:00. However, it was later extended to 23:00 and finally until 01:00 by the decision of the National Crisis Management Center (NCMC).
In a statement, the airport management said: “Based on initial information, the decision to restrict the airspace was made due to navigation signals indicating that balloons were moving toward Vilnius Airport.”
Passengers were advised to follow announcements from their airlines to avoid disruptions. The airport emphasized: “Decisions regarding specific flights are made by the airlines. Therefore, passengers whose travel plans may be affected should primarily follow their airline’s updates.”
Flights Diverted to Other Cities
According to the official website of Vilnius Airport:
The Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to Vilnius was diverted to Riga.
An airBaltic flight from Amsterdam also landed in Riga.
Ryanair’s flight from Oslo and Heston Airlines’ flight from Sharm El-Sheikh were diverted to Kaunas.
A Finnair flight from Helsinki returned to its departure airport.
All flight changes were visible on Flightradar24.
Increase in Illegal Balloon Activity
According to ELTA, there has been an extraordinary increase in balloon activity launched from Belarus into Lithuanian airspace in recent days. Many of these balloons are believed to be used for smuggling cigarettes. A similar incident on Friday night forced Vilnius Airport to temporarily halt operations until Saturday morning.
National Crisis Management Center Director Vilmantas Vitkauskas said on Saturday: “Tonight was the peak of suspicion.” He added that balloons had been launched continuously from Belarus from Friday evening until 06:30 the next morning.
Due to the increasing number of these illegal balloon incidents, the Lithuanian National Security Commission (NSC) has held several meetings, and Belarus’s actions are being discussed on national and international platforms as part of a potential “hybrid attack.”
Reported from Lithuania by Dunyatimes Correspondent Hüseyin Sayın: