All flights to and from El Paso International Airport in Texas have been halted for “special security reasons,” the Federal Aviation Administration said early Wednesday.
“No pilots may operate an aircraft in the areas covered by this NOTAM,” the FAA said, using the abbreviation for Notice to Airmen. It listed the reason as “temporary flight restrictions for Special Security Reasons.”
The restriction for the airspace over El Paso and the neighboring community of Santa Teresa, New Mexico came in at 6:30 a.m. UTC, or coordinated universal time (11:30 p.m. ET). It will end at the same time on Feb. 21.
The FAA did not elaborate on why the restrictions had been put in place for El Paso, which borders Mexico and is the the 23rd-most populous city in the nation according to the 2020 census.
But the NOTAM said the airspace was classified as national defense airspace. Deadly force could be used on an aircraft if it is determined that it “poses and imminent security threat,” it said, adding that pilots “may be intercepted, detained and interviewed” by law enforcement and security personnel.
An FAA spokesperson told NBC News they could not comment beyond what the NOTAM already stated.
El Paso International Airport did not immediately respond to a request for further comment from NBC News.
The exclusion does not affect Juárez and Mexican airspace.
The airport, which handled 3.49 million passengers in the first 11 months of 2025, confirmed the development in a travel advisory issued on social media, saying that all flights “including commercial, cargo and general aviation” were grounded.
“Travelers should contact their airlines to get most up-to-date flight status information,” it added.
Major U.S. airlines, including Southwest, Delta, United and American fly from the airport.
An American Airlines flight from Chicago landed at El Paso International at 10:57 p.m. local time Tuesday, the last flight to arrive before airspace closed, according to flight-tracking platform Flightradar24.
The next flight expected after that was a private plane from Everett, WA, scheduled to land at 1:13 a.m., but it was diverted to an airport in Las Cruces, New Mexico, the nearest U.S city, according to FlightRadar24. No further planes had been scheduled to land until after 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
Calling the decision “highly consequential,” Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, said in a statement that the decision was “unprecedented and has resulted in significant concern within the community.”
She added that “there was no advance notice provided to my office, the City of El Paso, or anyone involved in airport operations.”
Her concerns were echoed by City Councilmember Chris Canales who also said in a Facebook post the “lack of explanation is obviously fueling fear and speculation in our community.”
“What’s especially troubling is that there appears to have been no advance notice to local government, airport leadership, or even local Air Traffic Control or local military leadership,” he said. If the airport did have to close for 10 days, he said the economic hit to the city “could be $40-50 million or more.”
In a separate post on Reddit, he said the Army was “fretting about their flights tomorrow just as much as everyone else.”
The NOTAM also seemed to take airport staff by surprise.
Shortly before it came into effect, a conversation between an air traffic controller at El Paso International and someone aboard a Southwest Airlines flight suggested the airport had only been notified in the past hour.
The conversation was captured by LiveATC.net, a website that monitors and allows people to listen into air traffic control conversations.
“Just be advised I guess there’s a TFR going into effect,” the air traffic controller said, using the abbreviation for temporary flight restriction. “Just pass it on to Southwest and everybody else at 0630 for the next 10 days we’re stopped. All ground stop.”
Seemingly surprised about the closure, the person aboard the flight, Southwest WN1249, asks for confirmation. “So the airport is totally closed?”
“Apparently. We just got informed about 30 minutes to an hour ago.,” the air traffic controller replied.