Air traffic at Vilnius Airport was temporarily suspended early Wednesday after a drone was spotted near the Lithuanian capital, authorities said.
Around midnight, air navigation specialists reported a drone flying in the city, at a distance from the airport, according to airport spokesman Tadas Vasiliauskas.
Airport services responded by increasing patrols and surveillance in the area. Air traffic was halted for about 30 minutes, with operations fully restored by 12:35 am, Vasiliauskas said.
The disruption delayed a departing flight to Tel Aviv and caused several arriving aircraft to circle in holding patterns before landing, leading to delays of about 15 to 20 minutes.
The incident was first reported by local news outlet 15min.lt.
No real danger
Officials said later on Wednesday that the drone that led to the brief suspension of flights at Vilnius Airport belongs to a private security company. The firm itself, however, denied it.
Saulius Batavičius, CEO of state-owned air navigation service provider Oro Navigacija, said the drone was seen around midnight in the Liepkalnis district of Vilnius.
“Flight safety protocols were activated – flights were temporarily halted, and once it was confirmed there was no threat, traffic resumed about 30 minutes later,” Batavičius told BNS.
The drone had taken off from Lithuanian territory and was operated by Ekskomisarų Biuras, a private security firm, as part of a site inspection, Batavičius said.
He stressed that safety measures worked as intended and that flights were never in real danger.
However, Ekskomisarų Biuras chief Vytautas Labeckas later told 15min.lt that the drone in question was not flown by the security firm.
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