VILNIUS: Lithuania’s main airport has reopened following an hours-long closure caused by a suspected series of balloons.
This incident represents the latest disruption to flights in a European city.
Airports across Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Poland have recently suspended flights due to unidentified drones.
Romania and Estonia have pointed fingers at Russia, which has brushed off these allegations.
Vilnius airport announced it received official information at 10:16 pm on Saturday that air traffic was being temporarily suspended.
The airport stated on Facebook that the decision was made due to a possible series of balloons heading toward Vilnius Airport.
The statement did not specify the origin of the purported balloons.
Airport authorities later confirmed that their airspace had reopened at 4:50 am.
The shutdown impacted at least 10 flights, with several planes rerouted to the Latvian capital Riga.
Affected flights included those originating from London, Frankfurt, and Vienna.
One flight from Copenhagen was forced to turn back, while a scheduled departure to Helsinki was cancelled.
Vilnius airport warned that other departures might also be delayed or cancelled.
This incident followed drone sightings that caused Munich airport to shut down twice this week.
Flights from the German city gradually resumed on Saturday after travel disruptions affected more than 6,500 passengers. – AFP