Vilnius Airport resumed operations early Thursday after a LOT Polish Airlines aircraft that slid off a taxiway was removed, airport officials said.
Operations restarted at 03:55, according to Lithuanian Airports (LTOU). The aircraft had veered off the taxiway on Wednesday afternoon while taxiing toward the apron following its landing in Vilnius. None of the 63 passengers on board was injured.
The cause of the incident will be determined by investigators from the Justice Ministry.
LTOU warned that travellers may still face delays Thursday as airlines sort out disruptions to crew and aircraft rotations.
“Passengers whose flights were affected are encouraged to contact their airlines directly for more detailed information and to follow flight updates on the Vilnius Airport website,” the operator said.
The incident occurred as parts of Lithuania were hit by significant snowfall Wednesday. Authorities reported heavy and wet snow across the country and advised people to postpone nonessential travel.
Further reading
Forty-four flights affected
In all, the incident caused 28 flight cancellations and affected nearly 7,000 passengers.
“Twenty-eight flights were cancelled and 16 flights were delayed or will be delayed today. The total number of passengers affected is nearly 7,000,” Vitalija Ročė, head of the LTOU Communications Department, told LRT RADIO on Thursday morning.
In all, the incident affected a total of 60 flights that were to depart from or land in Vilnius.
“We had 16 flights that landed at other airports. Most of them landed at Kaunas Airport, and the passengers who landed there returned to Vilnius by bus. We also had four flights that landed at Riga Airport, one at Gdańsk, and one flight from Copenhagen to Vilnius that returned to Copenhagen. We also had one regular flight that was supposed to fly to London from Vilnius, and it was transferred to Kaunas,” said Ročė.
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