Vilnius Airport halts flights again after suspected Belarus balloon incursion
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Vilnius' airport, some 30km from the Belarusian border, has been closed more than 10 times since early October over similar incidents.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Vilnius Airport suspended operations at 1705 GMT due to suspected airspace disruption by balloons from Belarus.
- The airport, 30km from the Belarusian border, was scheduled to reopen an hour later at 1805 GMT.
- Lithuania blames Belarusian President Lukashenko for the "hybrid attack" of balloons, allegedly used for smuggling.
AI generated
VILNIUS - Vilnius Airport suspended operations again on Jan 27 due to suspected disruption of Lithuania’s airspace by balloons sent from Belarus, authorities said.
The airport closed at 1705 GMT (1.05am on Jan 28 in Singapore) and was scheduled to reopen at 1805 GMT, a National Crisis Management Centre spokesperson told Reuters.
The airport, located some 30km from the Belarusian border, has been closed more than 10 times since early October over similar incidents.
It last had to shut 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”. REUTERS
