Around 4,000 passengers and 30 flights were affected when Vilnius Airport was forced to close overnight after several dozen weather balloons believed to have been launched from Belarus entered Lithuanian airspace, officials said Wednesday.
“During the period when Vilnius Airport operations were temporarily suspended, more than 4,000 passengers and about 30 flights were affected,” Vitalija Ročė, a spokeswoman for Lithuanian Airports (LTOU), told LRT RADIO.
According to Ročė, 14 incoming flights were diverted: ten to Kaunas, two to Riga, and one each to Palanga and Warsaw. Ten other flights were cancelled, and one aircraft returned to its departure airport.
After the airport reopened early Wednesday, five scheduled departures from Vilnius were delayed, she said.
Airport operations were halted at around 22:00 Tuesday and resumed at 06:30 Wednesday. The closure followed the appearance of several dozen weather balloons in Lithuanian airspace, which authorities say are being used for smuggling from neighbouring Belarus.
Lithuanian officials have previously accused Belarus of sending such balloons across the border to transport contraband goods or disrupt air traffic near Vilnius.
‘Coordinated action’
Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC) said the weather balloons were launched from multiple sites in Belarus as part of a coordinated operation.
“The intensity and number of balloon launches were very high, and most likely this wasn’t from a single point – it was a coordinated operation,” he told LRT RADIO on Wednesday morning.
The balloons have been found in five municipalities: Lazdijai, Druskininkai, Varėna, Šalčininkai, and Vilnius, according to Vitkauskas.
“The latest incursion was recorded near Vilnius Airport. The geographical spread is very wide,” the official said.
“This was the most intense wave of cigarette-smuggling balloons into our country this year. The intensity is measured by two parameters: the time span during which the balloons were launched toward Lithuania and their number. For that reason, [the air navigation service provider] Oro Navigacija decided to suspend flights to ensure civil aviation safety,” Vitkauskas said.
Moreover, traffic through Lithuania’s two remaining border checkpoints with Belarus – Medininkai and Šalčininkai – was temporarily halted overnight. Vitkauskas said this was a preventive decision. The two checkpoints were reopened at 09:00 on Wednesday.
Search for the balloons continues, according to the official. So far, five have been located, one person has been detained, and about 7,000 packs of contraband cigarettes have been recovered.
The State Border Guard Service (VSAT) later updated the figures.
“A total of 12 weather balloons were intercepted, and four suspects were detained overnight,” VSAT chief Rustamas Liubajevas told reporters on Wednesday morning. He added the figures may still change as officers continue their work.
Vitkauskas said radar data show there are currently no smuggling balloons in Lithuania's airspace.
After Lithuania closed most of its border checkpoints with Belarus, installed a fence along the frontier, and stepped up border security, weather balloons have become one of the most common methods for smuggling tobacco products.
Possible border closure
Lithuania may close its border with Belarus for an extended period, President Gitanas Nausėda’s chief national security adviser Deividas Matulionis said on Wednesday morning.
“In this case, I think our services should take much tougher action in communicating with the Belarusian authorities to make it clear that if this continues, we may close the border entirely for a longer time,” he told LRT RADIO.
Matulionis said the National Security Commission is meeting on Wednesday to discuss possible measures in response to the threat posed by the smuggling balloons.
The advisor added that last night’s events also highlighted the importance of having a detection system along the border to spot incoming balloons in advance.
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