airspace incident: Vilnius Airport (and Kaunas Airport) (2025-10-24)

What happened

On Friday 24 October at about 20:30 Vilnius Airport halted traffic because of smugglers' balloons from Belarus; Kaunas Airport was closed the same night, both until about 02:35. According to Lithuanian Airports (via LRT/BNS) 40 flights and more than 6,000 passengers were affected; AeroTime gives the breakdown: 10 flights cancelled, 14 diverted, 16 delayed. It was the first of three consecutive nights of closures (24, 25 and 26 October); after the weekend the Medininkai and Salcininkai border crossings were closed. The sources give no balloon count; who launched the balloons has not been established.

Responsibility and limits of the evidence

not assessed

Nobody has yet assessed responsibility for this record. Not assessed is not the same as not established.

Impact

killed

not established

injured

not established

damage

not established

No casualties reported.

pending editorial review

Source discrepancy

The 40 flights and 6,000 passengers cover Vilnius and Kaunas together; no split by airport is given. Recorded under Vilnius.

Sources

1. Lithuanian airports shut three times over weekend due to smugglers' balloons

   LRT English / BNS / 2025-10-27 / secondary source

   supports: the record, the disruption, that it happened, the date

2. Vilnius and Kaunas airports shut after contraband balloons enter airspace

   AeroTime / 2025-10-27 / secondary source

   supports: the disruption, the impact

3. Lithuania draws up plans to shut Belarus border crossings indefinitely after balloon incursions

   Euronews / AP / 2025-10-27 / secondary source

   supports: the record, that it happened

4. Lithuania's Vilnius Airport grounds flights for third night in a row

   TVP World / secondary source

   supports: the record