Oslo : Lithuania reopened air traffic at Vilnius airport, its largest and busiest air hub, on Sunday after hours of suspensions and diversions triggered by reports of balloons in its airspace affected thousands of travellers, the airport’s operator said.
European aviation has repeatedly been thrown into chaos in recent weeks by drone sightings and air incursions, including at airports in Copenhagen and Munich.
Air traffic at Vilnius was restored at 4:50 a.m. (0150 GMT) on Sunday after a decision was made late on Saturday to close the airspace “due to a possible series of balloons heading toward Vilnius Airport,” the operator said in a statement on its Facebook page.
The temporary restrictions affected both arriving and departing flights, with some flights being cancelled, the operator said. In total, around 30 flights and nearly 6,000 passengers were impacted, it added.
