Vilnius Airport Closed. Balloons from Belarus Invaded the Airspace

Vilnius Airport was closed on Saturday due to weather balloons entering the airspace from neighboring Belarus, the National Crisis Management Center reported. This is the fourth such disruption this month.

Airport traffic was suspended until 2 a.m.

Lithuania resumed traffic on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border at noon on Saturday, more than 12 hours after weather balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes from Belarus entered Lithuanian airspace on Friday, paralyzing the operation of airports in Vilnius and Kaunas.

SEE: Balloons from Belarus over Lithuania. Airports and border crossings closed.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginene announced that if the balloon incident were to happen again, the government would close the border with Belarus.

The previous incident took place on Tuesday evening, when the appearance of several dozen smuggling balloons led to the closure of the airspace over Vilnius airport and the redirection of 12 flights.

SEE: Nighttime paralysis at Vilnius airport. Closed airspace

The next day, Lithuanian authorities declared it was the largest incident to date involving balloons violating Lithuanian airspace.

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