Smuggling balloons from Belarus trigger major disruption at Vilnius Airport

Vilnius Airport was forced to halt operations overnight after meteorological balloons were detected in Lithuanian airspace, disrupting flights from Friday evening until Saturday morning (November 28-29).

Lithuanian media reports that the restrictions led to significant travel disruptions: three flights were cancelled, nine were diverted to the airports in Kaunas and Riga, and the departure and arrival times of ten flights were adjusted.

In total, more than three thousand passengers and 22 flights were affected. The authorities had initially planned to lift the restrictions at 02:15 local time, but the deadline was extended several times, with the airspace ultimately reopening at around 07:03.

According to preliminary findings, the suspension of airport operations was caused by the appearance of navigation markers from meteorological probes moving toward Vilnius. The head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, stated that over the past 24 hours, Lithuania had recorded exceptionally high activity of smuggling balloons launched from Belarus, with more than 60 detections.

In recent weeks, Lithuania has been experiencing regular incursions of meteorological balloons carrying contraband from Belarus, repeatedly forcing the closure of the airport. Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginenė said she intends to bring the issue before international judicial bodies, including the International Court of Justice.

By Tamilla Hasanova