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FAA Ends ‘Unprecedented’ El Paso Air Travel Restrictions

The FAA had announced it would shut down the El Paso airport and surrounding airspace for 10 days, with limited explanation.

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A sign at the El Paso International Airport (ELP), Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025, in El Paso, Tex. Kirby Lee/AP

By Daniella Diaz and Torrence Banks

February 11, 2026 08:18 AM

Updated: February 11, 2026 09:25 AM

The Federal Aviation Administration has ended air travel restrictions around El Paso, Texas, just hours after announcing a sudden and largely unexplained 10-day shutdown of most of the airspace near the city’s international airport.

“The temporary closure of airspace over El Paso has been lifted,” the FAA posted on X Wednesday morning. “There is no threat to commercial aviation. All flights will resume as normal.”

The shutdown had baffled lawmakers from the area.

Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat who represents El Paso, said the FAA’s move was “unprecedented.”

“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,” she said in a statement to NOTUS before the shutdown 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.”

She added: “There was no advance notice provided to my office, the City of El Paso, or anyone involved in airport operations.”

After the closure was lifted, a Trump administration official said it had been prompted by “Mexican cartel drones.”

“Mexican cartel drones breached US airspace. The Department of War took action to disable the drones,” the official said. “The FAA and DOW have determined there is no threat to commercial travel.”

The administration has not shed more light into why the initial decision was as drastic as it was. The FAA advised late Tuesday night that it would immediately shut down air travel in the El Paso region for 10 days. The brief FAA advisory cites “special security reasons” for the closure. The advisory limits travel up to 17,999 feet above sea level.

“Nothing like this has happened since 9/11,” Philip Mann, who trained probationary employees as an FAA training program manager in Oklahoma City, said of the FAA’s initial announcement.

The El Paso International Airport sits near the U.S.-Mexico border.