Lithuania Flight operations in Vilnius suspended due to balloons
Flight operations at the airport in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius were temporarily suspended late on Saturday evening due to the overflight of suspected hot-air balloons. "The airspace above Vilnius Airport is closed until 4.30 a.m.," the airport administration announced on its website. Flights to Vilnius have since been diverted to Latvia and Poland.
05.10.2025, 02:52
SDA
As the news portal Lrytas reported, citing an airport spokesperson, the approach of the balloons was discovered at around 10.16 pm. As a result, flight operations were stopped for the time being for safety reasons.
The origin of the missiles initially remained unclear. The National Crisis Center spoke of "smuggling balloons" in the early morning, without explaining this term in more detail.
Just a few weeks ago, air traffic in Vilnius was temporarily suspended due to drone sightings. European air traffic has been repeatedly disrupted by drone sightings and airspace violations in recent weeks, most recently at Munich Airport.
