Vilnius - Istanbul Aircraft Unexpectedly Enters Belarusian Airspace

What happened?

The plane that left the Lithuanian capital yesterday flew over Belarus before entering Polish airspace.

A representative of the state company "Oro navigacija" said in a comment to the Lrytas portal that the sanctions had not been violated, as flights over Belarusian airspace are not prohibited for airlines from non-EU countries. They are only advised to avoid flights over Belarus.

"In this case, the flight path was changed to avoid dangerous thunderstorm clouds," said the head of the regional air traffic control centre.

In June, an Air Montenegro flight from Tivat to Vilnius flew over Belarus. After the forced landing of the Ryanair plane in Minsk in May, which resulted in the detention of Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, the Lithuanian government banned airlines from flying over Belarus.