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VILNIUS, October 27. /TASS/. Vilnius International Airport, which suspended operations on Sunday evening due to the detection of unauthorized aerial objects in its control zone, has resumed handling inbound and outbound flights, the airport’s administration announced. "The airspace of the capital’s airport was reopened at 4:30 a.m. [2:30 GMT - TASS]," the statement said. Vilnius International Airport suspended operations at about 9:40 p.m. local time (7:40 p.m. GMT) due to weather balloons that are used to smuggle cigarettes to Lithuania. According to airport services, during the closure, 13 flights were recalled, 14 were diverted to other cities, and the departure of 20 flights was delayed. The airport was closed during two previous night and three time during the past week due to similar incidents. Approximately 15,000 passengers were affected by the disruptions. Around 150 flights were delayed, canceled, diverted to other cities or returned to their points of origin. In connection with this incident, Vilnius intends to close its land border with Belarus for an extended period. Starting from Sunday night, traffic through the two operational border crossing points has been suspended indefinitely. There are currently no open border crossings. The government commission on national security will review the matter on Monday.
