Vilnius and Kaunas airports in Lithuania were closed on the evening of Friday 24.10.2025, as weather balloons originating on Belarus entered the country’s airspace, the Ministry of Transport announced.
This is the third such incident in the same month in Lithuania with balloons caught on radar, coming from Belarus which has caused concern and anger in Vilnius.
According to a Lithuanian ministry statement, air traffic at the two airports has been suspended until 22:00 local time with the National Crisis Management Center (NCMC) reporting that “dozens of balloons” were spotted by radar in the airspace.
Okay, that’s really enough of that. Third time this month…
E) VILNIUS TMA/CTR CLOSED DUE TO UNAUTHORIZED METEO BALLOONS IN THE VICINITY OF THE AIRFIELD
E) KAUNAS TMA/CTR CLOSED DUE TO UNAUTHORIZED METEO BALLOONS IN THE VICINITY OF THE AIRFIELD https://t.co/dKOsVwlBL6 pic.twitter.com/CL4eAGephA
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) October 24, 2025
Vilnius airport was closed earlier – on Tuesday 21.10.2025 and also on Sunday 05.10.2025 – when, according to the authorities, smugglers’ balloons from Belarus entered the airspace carrying contraband cigarettes.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene said on Wednesday that the country would close its border with Belarus if such incidents happened again.
In recent weeks, European countries are reminded that they have been faced with many airspace violations by drones mainlyincluding the airports of Copenhagen, Munich and other Baltic regions.