Questions FAA must answer after El Paso airport's closure is abruptly reversed
Ellie Kemp
Featured Image Credit: Kirby Lee/Getty Images
The FAA has announced a 10-day flight ban concerning El Paso International Airport has been lifted, hours after first confirming it.
Travel was set to disrupt people flying in and out of the Texas airport until February 20.
It had been implemented for 'special security reasons,' the FAA originally said.
The airport broke news of the restrictions via Instagram on Tuesday (February 10), advising affected passengers to contact their airlines for further assistance.
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But today (Wednesday February 11), the FAA took to X, formerly Twitter, to confirm that all flights would now be resuming as usual.
"The temporary closure of airspace over El Paso has been lifted," the government organization said in its statement.
"There is no threat to commercial aviation. All flights will resume as normal."
The rather bizarre U-turn has left questions unanswered - including the actual reason why the closure was put in place, and why it has been lifted so soon.
The FAA didn't provide any further details on the matter.
However, the New York Times reports that the brief shutdown was linked to 'a test of new counter-drone technology by the military at Fort Bliss, a nearby Army base, according to a person briefed on the matter.'
The no-fly zone had a radius of 10 miles, encompassing the Biggs Army Airfield, and covered all flights to and from the airport up to a height of 18,000 feet.
Meanwhile CNN reporter Jennifer Jacobs said officials told her the decision to close El Paso International Airport was triggered by Mexican cartel drones breaching US airspace
"War Dept took action to disable the drones," she added.
Frequent flyers will no doubt want to know whether more airports will be closed for military drone tests in the future - and if they'll be impacted.
El Paso International, located five miles from the Mexican border, offers flights to central US hubs including Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle and San Diego.
It is served by Alaska, American, Delta, Frontier, Southwest and United Airlines.
— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) February 11, 2026
The temporary closure of airspace over El Paso has been lifted. There is no threat to commercial aviation. All flights will resume as normal.
Southwest Airlines has since confirmed it would be resuming flights to and from El Paso, adding it would continue to honor the policy it put in place for affected customers.
The 'busiest commercial airport serving West Texas, Southern New Mexico and North Central Mexico,' El Paso International handled more than 4,000,000 passengers in 2024.
The FAA, a subdivision of the US Department of Transportation, is responsible for regulating and overseeing 'all aspects of civil aviation' in the United States.
It handles an average of 44,360 flights a day, as per its website.