VILNIUS, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Lithuania's Vilnius and Kaunas airports were temporarily closed on Friday night due to meteorological weather balloons flying toward their airspace, the Lithuanian transport ministry said.

Lukas Pakeviius, advisor to the minister of transport, said air traffic was suspended at Vilnius Airport at 8:31 p.m. and at Kaunas Airport at 8:36 p.m. Initially, flights at both airports were suspended until 10:00 p.m., but the closure was later extended by four hours, until 2:00 a.m.

According to data from Lithuanian airports, four flights may have been affected at Vilnius Airport and three at Kaunas Airport.

Lithuanian airports said they were taking prompt action to manage the situation, diverting flights to Palanga Airport where possible and arranging bus transfers for passengers.

Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene also confirmed the incident, saying "a large group of smuggled weather balloons were again launched from Belarus into Lithuania." In response, the State Border Guard Service temporarily closed the Salcininkai and Medininkai border checkpoints with Belarus until 12 noon on Saturday, she posted on Facebook.

Earlier this month, Vilnius Airport had already been temporarily closed twice due to balloons detected flying toward Lithuanian airspace. ■