US EditionFAA Lifts 10-Day El Paso Airspace Closure Hours After Announcement
FAA closed El Paso airspace for cartel drone threat but lifted restrictions within hours after Defense Department neutralized devices, ensuring no danger to commercial flights.
- On Feb. 11, the Federal Aviation Administration abruptly lifted a planned 10-day closure of El Paso International Airport hours after halting flights for `Special Security Reasons`.
- Separately, a government official told NBC News that a Trump administration official said Mexican cartel drones breached U.S. airspace, and the Defense Department disabled them, while the FAA did not explain the restrictions.
- LiveATC.net recorded an air traffic control exchange showing El Paso air traffic controller notified staff about 30 minutes to an hour before the restriction, saying, `Just be advised I guess there’s a TFR going into effect.`
- Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, said the airport closure was `highly consequential` and `unprecedented`, with no notice given to her office, the City of El Paso, or local airport operations, warning the economic hit `could be $40-50 million or more`.
- El Paso International handled 3.49 million passengers in the first 11 months of 2025 and serves major U.S. carriers including Southwest, Delta, United and American, near Ciudad Juárez.
289 Articles
289 Articles
Lawmakers demand answers after unprecedented FAA flight restrictions disrupt El Paso region
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar of El Paso and three members of the New Mexico congressional delegation are asking the Trump administration for a classified briefing on this week’s airspace restrictions that they say “created widespread fear, uncertainty and chaos in the region while disrupting commercial, medical, private, and military aviation activities.” The letter was sent Thursday to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary K…
Sudden El Paso Flight Restriction Raises Questions About U.S. Aerial Threat Detection
Welcome to this edition of The Intelligence Brief… This week, a sudden FAA airspace restriction over El Paso, Texas—initially tied to a suspected cartel drone incursion—was lifted within hours after officials determined the object may have been a party balloon, raising new concerns about detection systems and interagency coordination. In our analysis, we’ll be looking at 1) how the NOTAM designation of “National Defense Airspace” halted commerci…
Confusion surrounds sudden El Paso airspace closure
Confusion is mounting over why the Federal Aviation Administration ordered — and then rescinded — a 10-day closure of airspace over El Paso, Texas. An administration official told Semafor that “Mexican cartel drones breached US airspace” and that the Pentagon “took action to disable the drones,” before determining (with the FAA) that the airspace was safe. But subsequent reporting by CNN suggests that the airspace closure came after the Pentagon…
Ciudad Juárez (Mexico), Feb 11 (EFE).- Mexican Ciudad Juárez lived a day of confusion this Wednesday after the temporary closure of the international airport of El Paso (Texas), with which it shares border, after the detection of alleged Mexican drones in the airspace of the U.S., with the reinforcement of security operations and nervousness in the international bridges.https://holanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/rss-efe81f28bfe-d0b4-42e4-ba…
El Paso Airport Shut Down Over Mexican Drones? Threat Neutralized ⋆ Conservative Firing Line
The following article, El Paso Airport Shut Down Over Mexican Drones? Threat Neutralized, was first published on Conservative Firing Line. On February 11 it was reported that Mexican cartel drones breached the border near El Paso, causing the FAA to shut down the airport. The Department of War used electronic warfare to shut down the drones. The DOW referred to the action as ‘neutralizing the threat.’ It is unclear at this time whether the drone…
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