According to the authorities of the largest airport in Lithuania, the airspace above it was closed at 18:06 local time (17:06 in Poland), and the restrictions will last at least until 21:05 local time (20:05 in Poland).
Why is Lithuania closing the airport?
How long will the airspace closure last?
How many flights were diverted from Vilnius?
When will the state of emergency be introduced in Lithuania?
According to the flight schedule on the airport's website, due to the airspace closure, five flights to Vilnius were redirected to Kaunas or Riga, and at least five that should have taken off from Vilnius at that time were delayed.
Lithuania will introduce a state of emergency
On Friday, Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene announced that next week the government will introduce a state of emergency in connection with smuggling balloons from Belarus. According to data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, this year in Lithuania there have been 599 cases of violation of Lithuanian airspace by smuggling balloons from over Belarus and 197 by drones.
Due to balloons, Vilnius airport was closed more than 14 times in October and November. Previously, on the night from Wednesday to Thursday, the operation of the Vilnius airport was interrupted three times.
