Drone Disrupts Lithuanian President’s Landing At Vilnius Airport
There have been several drone-related incidents in Lithuania in the past few months, including one that forced officials to pause operations of Vilnius Airport (VNO) for half an hour.
A drone had prevented a Lithuanian Air Force (Lietuvos Karinės oro pajėgos, LK KOP) Alenia C-27J Spartan, which was carrying Gitanas Nausėda, the President of Lithuania, and Diana Nausėdienė, the First Lady of Lithuania, forcing the aircraft to enter into a holding pattern before landing at the airport.
On September 2, 2025, after returning from a trip to Finland, which included the President and the First Lady watching the EuroBasket basketball game between Finland and Lithuania, the C-27J Spartan departed Helsinki Airport (HEL) at around 19:00 local time (UTC +3), with Flightradar24 beginning to track the aircraft at around 19:10.
As the transport aircraft began descending for a landing at Vilnius Airport (VNO) at around 20:37 local time (UTC +3), the C-27J turned around and entered a holding pattern north of the airport, which is also further away from any residential neighborhoods.
According to a statement that Tomas Beržinskas, the Advisor to the President, provided to The Engine Cowl, as the aircraft approached VNO, the pilots were informed that a drone was spotted near the airport, making it unsafe to land. The President was briefed on the matter, and the pilots decided not to land at VNO to ensure the safety of the passengers on board the aircraft.
Around half an hour later, after confirming that the drone is no longer within the vicinity of the airport, the aircraft landed at VNO. Flightradar24 records showed that after the C-27J began circling above the outskirts of Vilnius at around 20:42, the aircraft finally touched down at around 21:16.
However, this was not an isolated incident. At approximately 00:00 on August 20, 2025, a drone was spotted in a neighborhood just south of VNO, which is right on the approach path toward the airport, suspending the airport’s operations for around 30 minutes. In a statement to LRT at the time, Tadas Vasiliauskas, the spokesperson of Lithuanian Airports (LTOU), confirmed the incident, detailing that the event had resulted in a single delayed departure and a few arrivals entering holding patterns before they were allowed to land at VNO.
According to Flightradar24’s flight history, three arriving flights had been held at their positions before being cleared to touch down at the airport: airBaltic flight BT922 from Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), LOT Polish Airlines flight LO773 from Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW), and Wizz Air flight W6 1914 from Barcelona El Prat Airport (BCN).
Rytis
The trio landed at the airport sequentially between 00:30 and 01:00.
In another incident in early July 2025, a Russian-made Gerbera drone, which had a 2-kilogram (4.4-pound) munition attached to it, breached the airspace of Lithuania after flying in from Belarus. Eventually, officials found the drone in a military training area near Gaižiūnai, around 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) north of Kaunas Airport (KUN).
That incident was the second time in a month that a Gerbera drone flew into Lithuania from the neighboring and Russia-aligned Belarus, with the other aircraft not carrying an explosive device. However, the two incidents had prompted NATO officials to review Lithuania’s ability to monitor its airspace, according to LRT.
The Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania (Krašto apsaugos ministerija, KAM) said in a statement that the officials’ findings will be presented to Alexus Grynkewich, a United States Air Force (USAF) General, who is the current Commander of the US European Command and the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). Subsequently, Grynkewich will visit Lithuania to discuss potential solutions for the country’s officials to improve the monitoring of the country’s airspace.
