Balloons ferrying smuggled cigarettes from Belarus grounded Lithuania’s main airport into a halt.

As many as 4,000 passengers and 30 flights have been affected after the incident at Vilnius Airport late last night.

More than a dozen incoming flights were diverted – 10 to Kaunas, two to Riga, and one each to Palanga and Warsaw.

Another 10 flights were cancelled, a spokesperson for Lithuanian Airports (LTOU), told LRT RADIO.

A statement from the National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) said:’Operations have been disrupted due to weather balloons used to smuggle cigarettes from Belarus.’

This is the second time in a month that the country’s largest airport was shut down due to a similar incident involving contraband from neighbouring Belarus.

On October 5, large helium balloons carrying contraband cigarettes also led to flight cancellations and delays.

At the time, a total of 25 balloons were detected, including two flying above Vilnius airport, the NCMC said.

Seven of these had been recovered by authorities and were found to be carrying 12,000 packs of cigarettes.

Vilnius Airport has already reopened after last night’s closure but this is the latest incident involving Nato airspace.

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