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

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 mentioned 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 present.

“The short-term closure of airspace over El Paso has been lifted,” the FAA mentioned in a publish on X. “There is no such thing as a 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 in regards to the nature of the safety problem to the FAA.

Flights had 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 short-term sudden halt had been or why it was set for thus lengthy.

Whereas the FAA usually halts flights at airports for climate, site visitors and even rocket launches, a safety problem is very uncommon, as is saying such a protracted efficient airspace closure.

U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Texas Democrat whose district contains a lot of El Paso, mentioned the transfer to abruptly shut airspace was “unprecedented” and mentioned that “what my workplace and I’ve been capable of collect in a single day and early this morning, there isn’t a rapid menace to the neighborhood or surrounding areas.”

“There was no advance discover offered to my workplace, the Metropolis of El Paso, or anybody concerned in airport operations,” she mentioned in a press release. “We’ve got urged the FAA to instantly elevate the Short-term Flight Restrictions positioned on the El Paso space.”

The airport served practically 3.5 million folks within the first 11 months of 2025 and is served by Southwest Airways, Delta Air Traces, American Airways, United Airways and Frontier Airways, based on airport information.

There have been 1,314 departures scheduled for the El Paso airport this month, based on aviation-data agency Cirium.

United waived change charges for purchasers who want to maneuver their flights due to the airspace closure. Southwest mentioned it has reached out to affected vacationers.

“Nothing is extra vital to Southwest than the Security of its Prospects and Workers,” it mentioned.