• Vilnius Airport suspended air traffic due to balloons possibly entering its airspace, with flights diverted to Latvia and Poland and departures canceled.
• Quotes and notices were issued by the airport and echoed by multiple outlets, noting the closure timeline varied by source (around 2:30-2:45 a.m. local time, and extending later in some reports).
• The incidents come as European aviation has faced ongoing disruptions from drones and airspace incursions at several airports.
• Lithuania had previously declared a large no-fly zone along its border with Belarus in August to help its forces respond to violations.

Vilnius Airport suspended air traffic after balloons were reportedly spotted in its airspace, prompting most incoming flights to be redirected to Latvia and Poland, while departures were canceled; one Copenhagen-originating flight also returned to Denmark. The airport quoted a notice on its website: “Attention: the airspace over Vilnius Airport is closed,” as law-enforcement and air-traffic operations responded to the potential threat, with closure times cited as around 2:30 a.m. local time in Reuters and later 2:45 a.m. in SCMP, and a later extension noted by other outlets, according to Reuters, SCMP, and Times of India.

Across the region, European aviation has been disrupted by drone sightings and airspace incursions at various airports, including Copenhagen and Munich, underscoring a broader pattern of heightened security concerns as operators respond with temporary closures and diversions, according to Reuters, SCMP, and Times of India.

NATO member Lithuania had already declared a 90-km no-fly zone along its Belarus border in August to enable its armed forces to respond to violations, a context repeatedly referenced as part of the current disruption, with Vilnius located about 30 km from the border, according to Reuters, SCMP, and Times of India.