airspace incident: Vilnius Airport (2025-10-26)

What happened

On Sunday 26 October at 21:42 Vilnius Airport halted traffic for the third night in a row because of smugglers' balloons from Belarus; operations resumed at 04:30 on Monday, after almost seven hours. According to Lithuanian Airports (via LRT/BNS) 47 flights and more than 7,000 passengers were affected; AeroTime gives 13 flights cancelled, 14 diverted and 20 delayed. The Medininkai and Salcininkai border crossings were closed the same evening, and the government announced a plan to close the border with Belarus indefinitely. Over the three weekend nights 112 flights and more than 16,500 passengers were affected in total. 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.

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