FAA lifts El Paso airspace closure that a U.S. official says was tied to Mexican cartel drones

The Federal Aviation Administration reopened the airspace around El Paso International Airport in Texas on Wednesday morning, just hours after announcing a closure that would have grounded all flights for 10 days.

“The temporary closure of airspace over El Paso has been lifted,” the FAA said in a statement posted on social media. “There is no threat to commercial aviation. All flights will resume as normal.”

In a post on X, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that the FAA and U.S. Defense Department “acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion.”

“The threat has been neutralized, and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region,” Duffy wrote. “The restrictions have been lifted and normal flights are resuming.”

But according to the Associated Press, the sudden closure stemmed from a dispute between the FAA and the Pentagon over the military’s plans to “test a laser for use in shooting down drones used by Mexican drug cartels.”

The plan “caused friction with the [FAA,] which wanted to ensure commercial air safety,” the AP reported. “Despite a meeting scheduled later this month to discuss the issue, the Pentagon wanted to go ahead and test it, prompting the FAA to shutter the airspace.” According to CNN, the FAA’s decision to close the airspace “was made without telling the White House first.”

A notice posted on the FAA’s website late Tuesday said the flight restrictions were for “special security reasons” but did not provide additional details. All flights were grounded through Feb. 20, and the FAA encouraged travelers to contact their airlines for updates.

The move surprised local officials, who said there was no advance notice given to the city or anyone involved in airport operations.

At a news conference, El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson blasted the FAA’s decision to close the airspace without warning.

“I want to be very, very clear that this should’ve never happened,” Johnson said. “You cannot restrict airspace over a major city without coordinating with the city, the airport, the hospitals, the community leadership.”

He added: “That failure to communicate is unacceptable.”

“The highly consequential decision by FAA to shut down the El Paso Airport for 10 days is unprecedented and resulted in significant concern within the community,” Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat whose district includes El Paso, said in a statement before the closure was lifted. “From 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.”

Escobar later cast doubt on Duffy’s explanation.

“There have been drone incursions from Mexico going back to as long as drones existed. So this is nothing new,” she said at a news conference. “The drone incursion from Mexico — obviously not something any of us want to see. But this is not unusual, and there was nothing extraordinary about any drone incursion into the U.S. that I’m aware of.”

The temporary closure led to few flight cancellations. According to FlightAware, 14 flights into or out of El Paso International Airport — or about 10% of all arrivals and departures — had been canceled as of Wednesday morning.