A suspected flying object once again disrupts operations at Vilnius Airport
The suspected flying object resulted in only minor flight disruptions at Vilnius Airport (VNO).
Following another incident in a few months, Vilnius Airport (VNO) had to once again temporarily suspend operations due to a suspected flying object that was flying into the territory of Lithuania from Belarus.
Officials confirmed that after the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission's fighter jets had been deployed to visually identify the object, the airport’s operations were resumed shortly after, since the fighters could not spot the item that flew in from Belarus.
During a press conference shortly after the incident, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, the Deputy Chancellor of the Government heading the National Crisis Management Centre (Nacionalinis krizių valdymo centras, NKVC), confirmed that Oro Navigacija, which is the air navigation services provider (ANSP) of Lithuania, had spotted a flying object flying into Lithuania from Belarus toward VNO.
As such, in order to protect the safety of the flying public, officials made the decision to temporarily suspend operations at VNO. Vitkauskas noted that after receiving the initial information about the suspected object at around 08:33 local time (UTC +3), the airport’s operations were paused eight minutes later.
Around 09:00, activities at VNO resumed, with Vitkauskas highlighting that there had been no major disruptions at the airport. The suspected object could have been a meteorological phenomenon, which sometimes could be mistaken for a flying object due to the nature of the radars that initially spotted the object, the Deputy Chancellor said.
However, Vitkauskas also disclosed that during the night of September 9, there had been two weather balloons that were on course from Belarus to fly into the territory of Lithuania, which only raised the alertness of officials. The Deputy Chancellor added that these balloons could also pose a safety risk to aircraft.
Gintautas Ciunis, a representative of the Lithuanian Armed Forces (Lietuvos kariuomenė), clarified that just after 08:00, the country’s military began monitoring the object in Belarus with radars. The Armed Forces warned Oro Navigacija and decided to deploy two of the Hungarian Air Force’s (Magyar Légierő, HunAF) Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets stationed at Šiauliai International Airport (SQQ) to attempt to visually spot the object once it had entered Lithuania, which had been previously tracked only by radar.
Ciunis said that the two fighter jets could not spot anything as they arrived on scene, prompting them to return to SQQ. Currently, the Lithuanian Armed Forces are reviewing the data from their radars to determine the nature of the object that flew into the territory of Lithuania, which was flying above the wider Vilnius region.
Flightradar24 flight activity data showed that two departures, namely Ryanair flight FR 4048 to Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN) and LOT Polish Airlines flight LO 780 to Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW), had departed VNO around 30 minutes later than their scheduled takeoff times of 08:30 and 08:35, respectively.
In July 2025, two Russian-made Gerbera drones flew into Lithuania from Belarus, one of which was carrying a light munitions load and landed in a military training area near Gaižiūnai, around 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) north of Kaunas Airport (KUN).
In August 2025, VNO had to briefly suspend operations due to suspected drone activity just south of the airport, while on September 2, 2025, the Alenia C-27J Spartan, carrying Gitanas Nausėda, the President of Lithuania, and Diana Nausėdienė, the First Lady of Lithuania, had to delay its landing at VNO as a drone was spotted in the vicinity of VNO.
Rytis Beresnevicius
Vitkauskas said that the two July 2025 incidents have raised the alertness of authorities.
The joint Russia-Belarus military exercises Zapad 2025 are also scheduled to happen in Belarus between September 12 and September 16, 2025, potentially resulting in a significant buildup of forces near NATO’s eastern border.
Liudas Mažylis, a Lithuanian Member of the European Parliament (MEP), previously warned that considering the current geopolitical situation, “this year’s exercise could feature even more brazen provocations, including scenarios involving the use of tactical nuclear weapons and ‘accidental’ incursions by military forces into EU territory.”
