FAA reopens airspace around El Paso airport after temporary closure due to cartel drones: Duffy

The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday reopened the airspace around El Paso International Airport in Texas after a temporary closure due to cartel drones.Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X on Wednesday, “The FAA and DOW acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion. The threat has been neutralized, and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region. The restrictions have been lifted and normal flights are resuming.”
“The temporary closure of airspace over El Paso has been lifted. There is no threat to commercial aviation. All flights will resume as normal,” the FAA posted on X on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, the FAA said that all flights were stopped at El Paso International Airport in Texas for 10 days for “special security reasons.”
“No pilots may operate an aircraft in the areas covered by this [Notice to Airmen],” the FAA said, NBC News reported. The reason was listed as “temporary flight restrictions for Special Security Reasons.”
The restriction applies to the airspace over El Paso and the neighboring community of Santa Teresa, New Mexico.
The airport posted on Instagram on Wednesday, saying, “All flights to and from El Paso are grounded, including commercial, cargo and general aviation. The FAA has issued a flight restriction halting all flights to and from El Paso effective from February 10 at 11:30 PM (MST) to February 20 at 11:30PM (MST). Travelers should contact their airlines to get most up-to-date flight status information.”
The notice said the airspace was classified as national defense airspace. Deadly force could be used on an aircraft if it is determined that it “poses and [sic] imminent security threat,” according to the notice, adding that pilots “may be intercepted, detained and interviewed” by law enforcement and security personnel.
Texas Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar, whose district includes El Paso, had urged the FAA to lift the restrictions in a statement Wednesday morning, The Associated Press reported. She said her office, the city of El Paso, nor airport operations were given an advance notice.
“The highly consequential decision by FAA to shut down the El Paso Airport for 10 days is unprecedented and has resulted in significant concern within the community,” Escobar said. “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.”
Major U.S. airlines, including Southwest, Delta, United, and American have flights that depart from the airport.
An American Airlines flight from Chicago landed at the airport at 10:57 p.m. local time Tuesday, the last flight to arrive before airspace closed, according to flight-tracking platform Flightradar24.

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