The Moldovan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has reopened its airspace after a three-hour pause announced for security reasons. The aviation regulator confirmed that it had issued an emergency warning Tuesday morning amid reports of a weather balloon-like object near the town of Soroca. The airspace remained closed until 2:46 pm local time.
In a statement released Tuesday evening, the CAA clarified the situation by confirming that it had made the decision to temporarily close its airspace after an unidentified object, ” ;resembling a weather balloon», was found in the airspace near the border city of Soroka with Ukraine.
“Given the weather conditions and the impossibility of observing and identifying the object, as well as the trajectory of its flight, in order to ensure the safety of citizens, within the framework of the Interdepartmental Commission on Airspace Management at 13:24, it was decided to temporarily close the air space. After checking the information and ensuring that there was no danger to the safety of citizens, at the suggestion of the Ministry of Defense, at 14:46, the airspace was reopened».
The CAA of Moldova noted that the flights are currently operating in “safe conditions”.
It is still unclear if this incident is related to a similar event reported in Romania on Tuesday afternoon. Two Romanian Air Force MiG-21s were scrambled to intercept a suspicious object, also resembling a weather balloon, in the country's southeast. Although the flight crews circled the area for half an hour, they were unable to obtain visual or radar confirmation of the object before returning to base.
Flag carrier Air Moldova was the first to confirm the airspace closure by contacting its customers and warning them of possible failures. The airline issued an update later in the afternoon noting that its flights to Paris (BVA) and Lisbon (LIS) were unaffected. However, the flight to Istanbul (IST) was rescheduled for Wednesday.
The CAA did not initially disclose the reason for the airspace closure, leading to speculation amid developments in Ukraine.
