Vilnius Airport temporarily suspends flights after ‘unidentified object’ detected
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Flights at Vilnius Airport were briefly suspended Tuesday morning after air traffic controllers reported detecting a flying object, Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre said.
The suspension was introduced as a precaution under standard safety procedures, the centre said in a statement.
“The Lithuanian Air Force’s radar was monitoring an unidentified object moving from Belarus towards Lithuania. The signal was also briefly detected by ground-based air defence units, but without visual contact,” the centre said.
Fighter jets performing NATO air policing missions were activated in order to intercept the object but did not detect anything once they reached the location indicated by the radar.
The incident will be investigated, the centre said, but preliminary assessment is that it may have been “a meteorological event”.
According to the centre, all flights resumed at around 09:00 and the impact on airport operations and flights was “minimal”.
Passengers were advised to contact their airlines directly for updates on flight times.
Last week, flights at Vilnius Airport were also disrupted by a drone used by the company Teltonika. It delayed the landing of President Gitanas Nausėda’s plane, en route from Finland, for about half an hour.
The Ministry of Transport and Communications says that it is currently considering expanding no-fly zones for unmanned aircraft to prevent similar incidents.
In the summer, two Russian Gerbera drones flew into Lithuania, one of which was carrying several kilograms of explosives. They did not disrupt navigation, but drew attention to threats posed by drones.
