Vilnius Airport again restricts airspace over smuggling balloon threat
Vilnius Airport briefly closed its airspace overnight on Monday due to a smuggling balloon threat from Belarus, marking roughly the tenth such disruption this year.
Vilnius International Airport announced on Tuesday that it had been forced to temporarily impose airspace restrictions overnight due to the threat of smuggling balloons arriving from the direction of Belarus. The restrictions were in force from 23:25 on Monday until 02:40 on Tuesday, local time.
The incident ended a break of several months, with the previous such disruption recorded back in June. Around 20 flights were affected while the restrictions were in place.
The airport has asked passengers whose flights were disrupted or cancelled as a result to contact their respective airlines directly for further information.
Part of a recurring pattern
This marks approximately the tenth time this year that operations at the Lithuanian capital's airport have been disrupted by the threat of smuggling balloons. Lithuanian officials continue to characterise these incursions as a hybrid attack orchestrated by the regime in Minsk.
The source report does not specify what the balloons are typically used to smuggle, but the recurrence of such incidents throughout the year points to sustained tension along Lithuania's border with Belarus.
