FAA Closes Airspace Around El Paso Airport for ‘Special Security Reasons,’ Grinding All Flights to a Halt

The FAA has announced it will close the airspace around El Paso International Airport for 10 days, a rare move that hasn’t been imposed since the September 11 terror attacks.

The agency announced Wednesday that the closure was being imposed for “special security reasons,” but did not elaborate.

“The FAA, on short notice, issued a temporary flight restriction halting all flights to and from El Paso,” the airport said in a statement to Fox News. “Commercial airlines operating out of El Paso are being informed of the restriction, which appears to be security-related.”

CNN correspondent Pete Muntean later reported on X that “military operations” were behind the closure.

“BREAKING: A source briefed by FAA tells me the El Paso flight ban was driven by military operations from Biggs Army Air Field at Fort Bliss,” he posted. “The FAA acted after the Defense Department could not assure civilian flight safety.”

FAA safety team member Kyle Bailey told Fox News on Wednesday that whatever was happening in that airspace, it was “something big.”

“It’s definitely something big like a national security event, [or] a high-level VIP,” Bailey said.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has not yet commented on the closure.

The airspace above Mexico will remain open. The airport is located nearly 30 miles from Ciudad Juárez.

Watch above via Fox News.

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