The Federal Aviation Administration reopened the airspace around El Paso International Airport in Texas on Wednesday morning, just hours after it announced a 10-day closure that would have grounded all flights to and from the airport.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a social media post that it has lifted the temporary closure of the airspace over El Paso, saying there was no threat to commercial aviation and that all flights will resume.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on X that the FAA and the Defense Department “acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion. The threat has been neutralised and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region.”
He said normal flights were resuming Wednesday morning.
He did not say how many drones were involved or what specifically was done to disable them.
The shutdown announced just hours earlier “for special security reasons” had been expected to create significant disruptions given the duration and the size of the metropolitan area.
El Paso, a border city with a population of nearly 700,000 people and larger when you include the surrounding metro area, is hub of cross-border commerce alongside the neighboring city of Ciudad Juarez in Mexico. The brief closure does not include Mexican airspace.
The airport said in an Instagram post after the closure was announced that all flights to and from the airport would be grounded from late Tuesday through late on February 20, including commercial, cargo and general aviation flights. It suggested travellers contact their airlines to get up-to-date flight information.
Representative Veronica Escobar, a Democrat whose district includes El Paso, had urged the FAA to lift the restrictions in a statement Wednesday morning. There was no advance notice given to her office, the city of El Paso or airport operations, she said.
“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.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told her regular morning press conference she had “no information” of drones having been used on the border with the US.
‘Gateway to west Texas’
The airport describes itself as the gateway to west Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Mexico. Southwest, United, American and Delta all operate flights there, among others.
A similar temporary flight restriction for special security reasons over the same time period was imposed around Santa Teresa, New Mexico, which is about 24 kilometers northwest of the El Paso airport.
Southwest Airlines said in a statement that it has paused all operations to and from El Paso at the direction of the FAA.
“We have notified affected customers and will share additional information as it becomes available,” Southwest Airlines said. “Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of its customers and employees.”
(FRANCE 24 with AP, Reuters)
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