On Friday, September 26, operations at Vilnius Airport were halted twice due to drone sightings. According to LRT, the airspace was closed around 19:14, but operations resumed after about half an hour.
Rasa Petrauskaitė, a representative of «Lithuanian Airports», stated that the airspace was temporarily closed due to potential drone activity, which caused a delay for one departing flight.
Specifically, the flight of LOT Polish Airlines was delayed.
The police of the Vilnius region reported that a drone was spotted over Helyun Street at 19:17, but arriving officers found nothing.
Petrauskaitė noted that this was the second similar incident of the day; the airport's operations had already been disrupted around noon.
At 12:30, airport representatives received a notification from «Air Navigation» about a sighted drone, resulting in takeoffs and landings being suspended for approximately 10 minutes.
«This minimally affected two flights. The airport resumed normal operations at 12:40», – remarked Tadas Vasiliauskas, a representative of «Lithuanian Airports».
Several unidentified drones flew over southeastern German territory Schleswig-Holstein, prompting the Ministry of the Interior to launch an investigation for suspected espionage or sabotage.
Previously, drones were spotted in Denmark, causing Copenhagen Airport to shut down for several hours on Monday evening. On Wednesday, drones reappeared over airports in the western part of the country, leading to the closure of airspace over Aalborg Airport. The Danish government has labeled this a «hybrid attack». Investigators believe it may have been carried out by a professional operator with the necessary skills, intending to sow chaos in a NATO country.