[10 / 1 / 1]
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/11/faa-el-paso-airport.html
The Federal Aviation Administration abruptly grounded all flights in and out of El Paso International Airport in Texas for 10 days starting Wednesday morning, citing “special security” instructions, and then lifted the order hours later.
A Trump administration official said the Department of Defense disabled Mexican cartel drones that had breached U.S. airspace and that there was no threat to commercial air travel currently.
“The temporary closure of airspace over El Paso has been lifted,” the FAA said in a post on X. “There is no threat to commercial aviation. All flights will resume as normal.”
The airport sits next to Biggs Army Airfield and is near the Mexican border, about 12 miles from Juarez, Mexico. The Pentagon referred a question about the nature of the security issue to the FAA.
Flights were initially halted until late Feb. 20 and the ban applied to a 10-nautical-mile area around the airport. The FAA hadn’t immediately disclosed what the security reasons for the temporary sudden halt were or why it was set for so long.
While the FAA regularly halts flights at airports for weather, traffic or even rocket launches, a security issue is highly unusual, as is announcing such a long effective airspace closure.
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Texas Democrat whose district includes much of El Paso, said the move to suddenly close airspace was “unprecedented” and said that “what my office and I have been able to gather overnight and early this morning, there is no immediate threat to the community or surrounding areas.”
“There was no advance notice provided to my office, the City of El Paso, or anyone involved in airport operations,” she said in a statement. “We have urged the FAA to immediately lift the Temporary Flight Restrictions placed on the El Paso area.”
The Federal Aviation Administration abruptly grounded all flights in and out of El Paso International Airport in Texas for 10 days starting Wednesday morning, citing “special security” instructions, and then lifted the order hours later.
A Trump administration official said the Department of Defense disabled Mexican cartel drones that had breached U.S. airspace and that there was no threat to commercial air travel currently.
“The temporary closure of airspace over El Paso has been lifted,” the FAA said in a post on X. “There is no threat to commercial aviation. All flights will resume as normal.”
The airport sits next to Biggs Army Airfield and is near the Mexican border, about 12 miles from Juarez, Mexico. The Pentagon referred a question about the nature of the security issue to the FAA.
Flights were initially halted until late Feb. 20 and the ban applied to a 10-nautical-mile area around the airport. The FAA hadn’t immediately disclosed what the security reasons for the temporary sudden halt were or why it was set for so long.
While the FAA regularly halts flights at airports for weather, traffic or even rocket launches, a security issue is highly unusual, as is announcing such a long effective airspace closure.
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Texas Democrat whose district includes much of El Paso, said the move to suddenly close airspace was “unprecedented” and said that “what my office and I have been able to gather overnight and early this morning, there is no immediate threat to the community or surrounding areas.”
“There was no advance notice provided to my office, the City of El Paso, or anyone involved in airport operations,” she said in a statement. “We have urged the FAA to immediately lift the Temporary Flight Restrictions placed on the El Paso area.”
