“Flights that will take place through the air traffic control zone of Belarus will not be coordinated in Lithuania,” Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonīte told reporters after the government meeting.
The ban will take effect from midnight Universal Time (UTC) or 3 hours local time.
According to the Lithuanian Minister of Transport Marjus Skuodis, this ban will affect approximately 180 aircraft flights.
The Lithuanian Cabinet of Ministers has made such a decision in response to the seizure and landing of Ryanair’s plane in Minsk by the authorities of the Belarussian regime on Sunday.
“Yesterday’s incident has made it very clear that, unfortunately, even when our citizens fly through the airspace of our neighbor, they are unfortunately not safe, and we do not know whether the plane will be forced to land for one reason or another,” Skuodis said.
The national air navigation company Oro Navigacija is tasked with disseminating this information to pilots.
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