Lyce · Hybrid Watch
hw_b348a211039459c6
Three flights diverted from Riga Airport after a drone enters the landing path, prompting temporary closure.
In the evening of 13 January 2025, Latvia’s Civil Aviation Agency (CAA) reported that a drone had been detected in the landing trajectory of three incoming aircraft at Riga Airport, forcing diversion of those flights to other airports and a roughly 30-minute airport closure. According to the report, the delayed flights included an airBaltic flight from Sofia and a WizzAir flight from Kutaisi diverted to Vilnius, and a Finnair flight from Helsinki that returned to its departure airport. Riga Airport sits at the heart of Latvia’s civil-aviation infrastructure and functions as a regional hub; an incursion into this zone touches both national- and allied-aviation security. The dynamics of the incident reflect hybrid-warfare logic: by introducing a drone into a civilian-aviation approach path, the actor forced Latvia’s aviation and security authorities to divert resources, elevate alertness, and reconsider detection/mitigation capabilities in the civil-air domain. Although no claim of responsibility was made and there was no damage or casualties, the event triggered legislative discussion about empowering police and border-guard units with counter-drone interception powers. The incident underlines that Latvia’s vulnerability is not limited to military or maritime fronts; civilian-aviation and airport approach zones are also potential vectors for hybrid pressure.
E/M/R/S scores
- EExistence0/4 · Not assessed
- MIntent0/4 · Not assessed
- RRussian actor link0/4 · Not assessed
- SRussian state responsibility0/4 · Not assessed
Facts
No facts
Sources
-
- Role
- discovery_lead
- Date
- 2025-01-12T23:00:00Z
In the evening of 13 January 2025, Latvia’s Civil Aviation Agency (CAA) reported that a drone had been detected in the landing trajectory of three incoming aircraft at Riga Airport, forcing diversion of those flights to other airports and a roughly 30-minute airport closure. According to the report, the delayed flights included an airBaltic flight from Sofia and a WizzAir flight from Kutaisi diverted to Vilnius, and a Finnair flight from Helsinki that returned to its departure airport. Riga Airport sits at the heart of Latvia’s civil-aviation infrastructure and functions as a regional hub; an incursion into this zone touches both national- and allied-aviation security. The dynamics of the incident reflect hybrid-warfare logic: by introducing a drone into a civilian-aviation approach path, the actor forced Latvia’s aviation and security authorities to divert resources, elevate alertness, and reconsider detection/mitigation capabilities in the civil-air domain. Although no claim of responsibility was made and there was no damage or casualties, the event triggered legislative discussion about empowering police and border-guard units with counter-drone interception powers. The incident underlines that Latvia’s vulnerability is not limited to military or maritime fronts; civilian-aviation and airport approach zones are also potential vectors for hybrid pressure.