airspace incident: Vilnius Airport (2026-04-09)

What happened

On the night of 9 to 10 April Vilnius Airport restricted traffic from 22:30 to 03:30 because of smugglers' balloons from Belarus; the restriction was first announced until 01:30 and then extended, and full operations resumed at 05:15. According to the NKVC (Darius Buta, via LRT) up to 20 navigation traces typical of smugglers' balloons were recorded that night, and in the assessment of the experts managing the airspace over the airport at least some of the balloons were directed almost straight into the airport's airspace. LRT reports: 9 flights cancelled, 5 delayed, 8 diverted to Kaunas and 2 to Riga, more than 3,000 passengers. Lithuanian Airports called the restriction a response to a hybrid attack by Belarus. 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.

Source discrepancy

Malcontent gives a range of 9-20 April. Lithuanian sources describe a single night of 9 to 10 April; no further closures up to 20 April were confirmed.

Sources

1. Dėl kontrabandinių balionų naktį buvo apribota Vilniaus oro uosto veikla

   LRT / BNS / 2026-04-09 / secondary source

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

2. NKVC: dalis į Lietuvą siųstų balionų buvo specialiai nukreipti į Vilniaus oro uostą

   LRT / 2026-04-10 / secondary source

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

3. Vilnius Airport's operations again paralyzed by balloons from Belarus

   Nasha Niva / 2026-04-10 / secondary source

   supports: the record, the disruption