On Saturday morning, flights at Kaunas and Vilnius airports, which were suspended on Friday evening due to weather balloons used by smugglers, were resumed, reports LETA citing LRT.
On Friday at 20:31, air traffic was temporarily suspended at Vilnius Airport and at 20:36 at Kaunas Airport. The airspace above both airports reopened on Saturday at 02:35, however, delays in flights are possible throughout the day, reported the operator of Lithuanian airports "Lietuvos oro uostai" (LTOU).
The restrictions were imposed due to weather balloons used by smugglers to transport cigarettes towards Druskininkai–Šalčininkai.
According to LTOU, the temporary restrictions affected both arriving and departing flights — some were canceled. A total of 40 flights and over 6000 passengers were affected.
In both airports, a total of 10 flights were canceled, 14 were redirected, and 16 were delayed.
At Kaunas Airport, 510 passengers and three flights were affected due to airspace restrictions — two were redirected, and one was canceled.
At Vilnius Airport, about 5900 passengers and 37 flights were affected: nine were canceled, 12 were redirected (two of them to Palanga Airport, from where passengers were transported to Vilnius by bus), and 16 flights were delayed.
Throughout the day, there may be individual flight delays due to disruptions in crew schedules and aircraft rotations.
According to the Vilnius District Police, information was received that "more than one" weather balloon was in the air.
According to the National Crisis Management Center, several dozen navigation points indicating flying objects were recorded.
The head of the center, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, reported that this time there were 2–3 times fewer weather balloons than at the beginning of the week, and a decision on the operation of temporarily closed border control points will be made by noon.
"It is difficult to name an exact number, but from radar images, it can be said that this is two to three times less than on Tuesday–Wednesday. Essentially, this is about 80–90 points," said Vitkauskas.
According to him, three weather balloons were recorded in the air, and four were observed.
"What was particularly concerning on the night of Friday was that the flight paths of the balloons were very dangerous — not only Vilnius but also Kaunas were affected," he emphasized.
Vitkauskas noted that the issue of shooting down weather balloons was not considered.
"This is a dangerous method and could pose an even greater threat to people, buildings, or infrastructure. Since we know that the cargo is not dangerous — it is smuggled cigarettes — it is much safer to wait for the balloons to land and then look for the smugglers conducting the operation," he explained.
As previously reported, on the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, several dozen weather balloons used by smugglers to transport cigarettes flew into Lithuania from Belarus. The incident disrupted operations at Vilnius Airport, affecting about 30 flights and over 4000 passengers, and also led to the temporary closure of the Medininkai and Šalčininkai border points.
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