Lithuania’s Vilnius airport shuts again over balloons in its airspace
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Lithuanian officials say the balloons, which fly up to 10km high, are deliberately being launched into flight paths.
PHOTOS: LINASKOJALA/X
VILNIUS - Lithuania’s Vilnius airport halted operations after balloons appeared in its airspace, it said on Dec 6, in the latest in a series of interruptions of the Baltic nation’s air traffic in recent months.
Air traffic would be closed until 1905 GMT (3.05am on Dec 7 in Singapore), the governmental National Crisis Management Centre said.
Air traffic later restarted at 1731 GMT (1.31am on Dec 7 in Singapore).
The airport, located some 30km from Belarus, has been closed more than 10 times since early October over similar incidents, and was last closed on Dec 3.
Lithuania says balloons are sent by smugglers transporting cigarettes from Belarus, but also blames Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko - a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin - for not stopping what it calls a form of “hybrid attack”.
Officials say the balloons, which fly up to 10km high, are deliberately being launched into flight paths. REUTERS
