Lithuanian Airports estimate €750,000 in damages from balloons on the Belarusian border
The state-owned company “Lithuanian Airports” (LTOU), which operates the country’s three international airports, has already tallied €750,000 in damages due to disruptions to the country’s airspace, which had to be closed because of the threat posed by balloons on the border with Belarus.
The administration of the Lithuanian airports warned that this assessment is preliminary, as not all partners have yet managed to calculate their losses. As explained by Tadas Vasiliauskas, a representative of «Lithuanian Airports,» the evaluation is being conducted as part of preparations for legal proceedings – the airports expect to seek compensation for losses through the courts.
According to LTOU estimates, in October and November, the airspace above Vilnius Airport was temporarily closed 13 times due to «navigation signs» characteristic of balloons. On one of the days, restrictions also had to be introduced at Kaunas Airport.
In total, due to contraband balloons on the border with Belarus, at least 320 flights were delayed or cancelled, affecting more than 45,000 passengers. In the case of Vilnius Airport, this represents approximately 5% of the total number of passengers served over the last two months.
«It is important to understand that this entire situation is still ongoing, and each instance of airspace restriction amplifies the impact on both LTOU and our partners,» Lithuanian publication LRT quoted Vasiliauskas as saying.
Earlier, Telegraf.news reported that last week, Gedrius Mišutis, the official spokesperson for the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service, named the country which is the source of most of the illegal cigarettes intercepted by local border guards this year. It turned out that the main source of contraband cigarettes for Lithuania was not Belarus at all.
В Литве назвали страну, откуда больше всего контрабанды сигарет. И это не Беларусь