Vilnius Airport resumes operations after temporary shutdown
November 20, Pozirk. Air traffic at Vilnius Airport was suspended for roughly two hours on November 20 after authorities detected weather balloons in the area.
Operations at the airport have since resumed.
Flights arriving from Warsaw and Helsinki were cancelled, while incoming flights from Istanbul and Stockholm were delayed by about two hours.
This was the first time Vilnius Airport halted operations since Lithuania reopened the Medininkai–Kamienny Łoh and Šalčininkai–Bieniakoni border crossings on the Lithuanian–Belarusian border at midnight (1 a.m. Minsk time) earlier the same day.
Lithuania had initially planned to keep all border crossings closed from October 29 to November 30 in response to repeated airspace violations involving balloons launched from Belarus.
Tensions between Belarus and Lithuania escalated in mid-October due to cigarette-smuggling balloons, prompting Lithuanian authorities to temporarily close the border on several occasions and suspend operations at Vilnius Airport, which lies close to the Belarusian border.
Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said earlier this week that border guards had recorded fewer incursions involving weather balloons used for cigarette smuggling.
Air traffic suspended over Vilnius Airport as new air balloons spotted
- SocietyGeorgia expels five Belarusian men in nine months of 2025The material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyLate journalist Miełkazioraŭ among outstanding figures honored by United Transitional CabinetThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsLuxembourg, Latvia, Norway contributed €530,000 in 2025 to help Belarusian regime's victimsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyBelarus seeks resumption of direct air services with TurkmenistanThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyNuclear plant’s Unit 2 reconnected to grid after planned maintenanceThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityOfficials discussing paramilitary role for Financial Investigations DepartmentThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityCol. Iljukievič appointed as commander of Special Operations ForcesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- SocietyLithuanian border guards detained 11 wanted Belarusians in 2025The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityPoland prevents five attempts by undocumented migrants to cross border from BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- PoliticsInterior ministry labels 26 as extremistsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyPolish Border Guard reports four seizures of cigarettes flown in from BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyContraband cigarette seizures in Lithuania tripled in 2025 – border guardsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- SocietyInterior minister orders deployment of heavy equipment for snow removalThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyŁukašenka's edict cuts paperwork for administrative proceduresThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityInterior troops wrap up anti-drone exerciseThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- PoliticsSeimas deputy speaker backs maintaining Cichanoŭskaja’s office in VilniusThe material is available only to POZIRK+



