The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered the immediate closure of a key Texas airport. El Paso airport in the west of the state has issued a Travel Advisory on Instagram saying: “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 11:30PM (MST). Travelers should contact their airlines to get most up-to-date flight status information.”
The authority issued a Notice to Air Missions (Notam) banning all flights within 10 nautical miles of the airport. It cited: “Temporary flight restrictions for Special Security Reasons.”
The FAA gave no further reasons for the closure, which applies to all flights below 18,000 feet.
El Paso is the Texas border city featured in the Breaking Bad series. The Mexican frontier is around two miles from the airport.
The shock announcement took effect an hour after the final flight of Tuesday night, American Airlines from Dallas-Fort Worth landed at El Paso. A later inbound executive jet flight from Everett near Seattle diverted to Las Cruces, about 50 miles northwest.
The leading airlines at El Paso are American Airlines and Southwest. The other giant US carriers, Delta and United, also have a presence there – along with Alaska Airlines and Frontier.
As a result of the ground stop, at least 17 commercial jets operated by these airlines will be immobilised for 10 days – which is likely to lead to cancellations elsewhere.
The US has much weaker air passengers’ rights rules than the UK and Europe, which means most travellers will need to make their own arrangements at additional cost.
The nearest comparable airports are hundreds of miles away. The closest, Phoenix in Arizona, is over six hours’ drive from El Paso.
British and other European passengers who are booked to fly out to El Paso should be offered alternatives by their airlines – but the same protection does not apply when flying from the US.
Read more: What rights do you have to compensation for cancelled or delayed flights?
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