On January 13, 2025, three planes were diverted from Riga Airport due to a drone detected in the landing trajectory, leading to a 30-minute airport closure.

Military & Paramilitary OperationsConventional Military PressureAirspace violations

Aggressor

Summary

On the evening of January 13, 2025, three commercial flights scheduled to land at Riga Airport were redirected due to the detection of a drone in the landing path. Flights from airBaltic (Sofia), WizzAir (Kutaisi), and Finnair (returning to Helsinki) were diverted to other airports, including Vilnius. The airport was closed for approximately 30 minutes as a security precaution, causing delays including for a Turkish Airlines departure to Istanbul. State Police received reports of a drone-like object over the airport area and are verifying the information alongside partners. The incident disrupted normal airport operations and raised concerns about unauthorized drone presence in controlled airspace.

Classification

Confidence: High

The event clearly describes the presence of a drone detected in controlled landing space, causing flight diversions and airport closure, indicating aggressive or unauthorized airspace violation activity. No defensive or preparatory action is described beyond reactive closures.

Source URL

https://eng.lsm.lv/article/economy/transport/14.01.2025-planes-redirected-from-riga-monday-due-to-drone-presence.a583539

Open source

Provenance

Publisher: csv-import
Submitted: Feb 13, 2026, 19:25 UTC
Last updated: Nov 8, 2026, 20:55 UTC
Event time: Jan 13, 2025, 17:00 UTC

Published as a hybrid-warfare signal with a public source and reviewer-approved assessment bands. See the methodology for how records are assessed.

Raw record

{
  "id": "cdc93c3a-bb9a-4097-827c-d883f793190b",
  "url": "https://eng.lsm.lv/article/economy/transport/14.01.2025-planes-redirected-from-riga-monday-due-to-drone-presence.a583539",
  "source": "csv-import",
  "status": "approved",
  "category": "Military & Paramilitary Operations",
  "subcategory": "Conventional Military Pressure",
  "incident_type": "Airspace violations",
  "country": "Latvia",
  "source_reliability": "C",
  "info_credibility": "3",
  "tags": [
    "drones",
    "Riga Airport",
    "airBaltic",
    "WizzAir",
    "Finnair",
    "airport security",
    "State Police",
    "civil aviation",
    "flight diversion"
  ],
  "nodes": [],
  "countries": [],
  "where_text": "Airspace",
  "headline": null,
  "description": "On January 13, 2025, three planes scheduled to land at Riga Airport were redirected due to a drone detected in their landing trajectory. A flight from Sofia (airBaltic) and another from Kutaisi (WizzAir) were diverted to Vilnius Airport, while a Finnair flight returned to Helsinki. The airport was closed for about 30 minutes, including departures, delaying a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul. State Police received information on a drone-like object over the airport and are verifying it with partners. The Civil Aviation Agency confirmed the drone presence and temporary closure as a security measure.",
  "summary_short": "On January 13, 2025, three planes were diverted from Riga Airport due to a drone detected in the landing trajectory, leading to a 30-minute airport closure.",
  "summary_extended": "On the evening of January 13, 2025, three commercial flights scheduled to land at Riga Airport were redirected due to the detection of a drone in the landing path. Flights from airBaltic (Sofia), WizzAir (Kutaisi), and Finnair (returning to Helsinki) were diverted to other airports, including Vilnius. The airport was closed for approximately 30 minutes as a security precaution, causing delays including for a Turkish Airlines departure to Istanbul. State Police received reports of a drone-like object over the airport area and are verifying the information alongside partners. The incident disrupted normal airport operations and raised concerns about unauthorized drone presence in controlled airspace.",
  "actor_primary": null,
  "target_primary": null,
  "location_text": "Riga Airport",
  "location_region": null,
  "location_coordinates_lat": 56.879635,
  "location_coordinates_lon": 24.603189,
  "location_precision": "Regional",
  "is_aggressor_signal": true,
  "signal_type": "HYBRID_SIGNAL",
  "is_hybrid_war_signal": true,
  "classification_complete": true,
  "hybrid_signal_complete": true,
  "classification_confidence": "High",
  "classification_rationale": "The event clearly describes the presence of a drone detected in controlled landing space, causing flight diversions and airport closure, indicating aggressive or unauthorized airspace violation activity. No defensive or preparatory action is described beyond reactive closures.",
  "event_time_utc": "2025-01-13T17:00:00.000Z",
  "end_time_utc": "2025-01-13T17:30:00.000Z",
  "event_time_confidence": "pm6h",
  "created_at": "2026-02-13T19:25:07.336Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-08T20:55:35.272Z",
  "reliability_band": "strong",
  "location_precision_band": "regional",
  "time_precision_band": "within_6h",
  "severity_band": "moderate",
  "attribution_confidence_band": "medium",
  "attribution_basis": "single_source"
}

Public assessmentReliability: StrongSeverity: ModerateAttribution: MediumSingle sourceTime: Within 6 hoursLocation: Regional

Source reliability

Info credibility

Event time

Jan 13, 2025, 17:00 UTC

End time

Jan 13, 2025, 17:30 UTC

Event time confidence

pm6h

Location

Riga Airport

Country

Latvia

Tags

drones, Riga Airport, airBaltic, WizzAir, Finnair, airport security, State Police, civil aviation, flight diversion

Loading signal...

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