FAA abruptly lifts order halting El Paso flights; Trump official says Protection Dept. disabled Mexican cartel drones

The Federal Aviation Administration abruptly grounded all flights out and in of El Paso Worldwide Airport in Texas for 10 days beginning Wednesday morning, citing “particular safety” directions — after which lifted the order hours later.

A Trump administration official stated the Division of Protection disabled Mexican cartel drones that had breached U.S. airspace and that there was no menace to business air journey at the moment.

“The non permanent closure of airspace over El Paso has been lifted,” the FAA stated in a publish on X. “There isn’t any menace to business aviation. All flights will resume as regular.”

The airport sits subsequent to Biggs Military Airfield and is close to the Mexican border, about 12 miles from Juarez, Mexico. The Pentagon referred a query concerning the nature of the safety subject to the FAA.

Flights have been initially halted till late Feb. 20 and the ban utilized to a 10-nautical-mile space across the airport. The FAA hadn’t instantly disclosed what the safety causes for the non permanent sudden halt have been or why it was set for therefore lengthy.

Whereas the FAA frequently halts flights at airports for climate, visitors and even rocket launches, a safety subject is extremely uncommon, as is saying such a protracted efficient airspace closure.

U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Texas Democrat whose district consists of a lot of El Paso, stated the transfer to all of a sudden shut airspace was “unprecedented.”

“There was no advance discover supplied to my workplace, the Metropolis of El Paso, or anybody concerned in airport operations,” she stated in an announcement.

The airport served almost 3.5 million individuals within the first 11 months of 2025 and is served by Southwest Airways, Delta Air Traces, American Airways, United Airways and Frontier Airways, in accordance with airport knowledge.

There have been 1,314 departures scheduled for the El Paso airport this month, in accordance with aviation-data agency Cirium, together with about 40 departures on Wednesday.

Southwest has 23 flights scheduled on the airport, out of greater than 3,000 systemwide. The airline stated Wednesday it’s resuming operations to and from El Paso and inspired vacationers to test its web site for up to date info.

“Nothing is extra necessary to Southwest than the Security of its Prospects and Staff,” it stated.

United stated it did not cancel any flights and that it canceled an earlier journey waiver.