Vilnius Airport has since resumed operations. After landing in Warsaw and refueling, the aircraft is expected to depart again for Vilnius as flight LOT LO771.
LOT spokesperson Krzysztof Moczulski said that flight LO771 had turned back midway. The return service, LO772, will also operate but with a delay. Earlier, he had announced that both flights were cancelled, with passengers to be rebooked on later connections.
Arrivals and departures at Vilnius Airport were suspended on Sunday following reports of unidentified flying objects in the vicinity. A fighter jet conducting NATO surveillance missions was also scrambled, according to the National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC).
The alert was lifted in under an hour, allowing flights to resume. “There is no threat; people can rest assured,” Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the NKVC, told Lithuanian broadcaster LRT.
Earlier on Sunday, at 4:05 a.m. local time (3:05 a.m. in Poland), the Lithuanian Air Force reported that radar had detected an unidentified object near Varėna in southern Lithuania. The object entered Lithuanian airspace—likely from Belarus—and later exited toward Russia’s Kaliningrad region. Countries on NATO’s eastern flank have reported multiple drone-related airspace violations linked to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
(pu)
Source: PAP