FAA suddenly closes airspace over El Paso, near Mexico border, for 10 days over security concerns

The United States (U.S.) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has closed airspace over El Paso, Texas, and blocked all flights from the El Paso International Airport for 10 days citing “special security concerns”.

The airport is considered a gateway to West Texas, southern New Mexico, and northern Mexico. It handled around 3.49 million passengers in the first 11 months of 2025.

It is pertinent to note that El Paso is near the Mexican border; however, the NOTAM issued covered the airspace for only 10 nautical miles and it does not cover Mexican airspace.

The El Paso International Airport posted the travel advisory on Instagram advising passengers to get the most up-to-date flight status information from their airlines.

The travel advisory read, “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 11:30 PM (MST).”

The FAA has not shared any further details about the security concerns.

El Paso city representative Chris Canales has criticised the sudden closure of airspace, saying that the city was not given any advance notice.

Canales said that even the military expressed concern about its flights, adding, “Military does not have carte blanche exemption.”