The Vilnius Airport on Friday evening temporarily suspended operations after navigational markers in the airspace, resembling signals from weather balloons and potentially posing a threat to civil aviation, were detected. Lithuania called this a likely part of a hybrid attack by Belarus. The airport administration announced this on its Facebook page.
The restrictions above the airport were imposed at 18:06 and remained in effect until 19:32. As a result, some flights were delayed or canceled. After the restrictions were lifted, the airport’s operations were fully restored.
Passengers were urged to contact their airlines for details and to monitor updates on the Vilnius Airport’s website.
Incidents with balloons from Belarus
In the night of October 27, Vilnius International Airport temporarily closed air traffic due to balloons flying from Belarus. In the night between October 25 and 26, air traffic at the airport was also temporarily halted, causing flights to be delayed and canceled.
Prime Minister Inga Ruginenė convened a meeting of the National Security Committee, during which a decision was made to close the border with Belarus, which was approved on October 29.
Altogether, since October 27, air traffic in the country due to balloons from the Belarusian side has been disrupted at least five times. By November 30, 2025, the Šalčininkai and Medininkai border checkpoints on the border with Belarus were to be closed, but they were opened earlier – on November 20.
At the same time, the country’s Prime Minister Inga Ruginenė stressed: if the situation with contraband balloons entering from Belarus worsens again, the authorities reserve the right to reinstate the border closure.