Mexican cartel drones forced brief closure of El Paso airspace, US says

"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 Federal Aviation Administration reopened airspace around El Paso International Airport Wednesday morning after announcing a 10-day closure that would have grounded flights. The FAA said on social media it lifted the temporary closure, there was no threat to commercial aviation, and flights would resume. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA and Defense Department acted to address a cartel drone incursion, that the threat had been neutralized, and that normal flights were resuming; he did not specify the number of drones or how they were disabled. The shutdown had been expected to cause major disruptions in the nearly 700,000-person border metro area. The airport advised travelers to contact airlines for updated information.

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