El Paso Flights Grounded

The Pentagon allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to use an anti-drone laser earlier this week, leading the Federal Aviation Administration to suddenly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas. That's according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The confusing arc of events began as the FAA announced it was shutting down all flight traffic Wednesday over the city on the U.S.-Mexico border for 10 days. That stranded some travelers, but the closure ended up only lasting a couple of hours. The Trump administration said the closure stemmed from the FAA and Pentagon working to halt an incursion by Mexican cartel drones.

The Federal Aviation Administration has reopened the airspace around El Paso International Airport in Texas, just hours after it announced a 10-day closure that would have grounded all flights to and from the airport. The FAA announced in a social media post on Wednesday that it had lifted the temporary closure of the airspace, saying that there was no threat to commercial aviation and all flights would resume. The shutdown was expected to create significant disruptions given the duration and the size of the metropolitan area. El Paso is a hub of cross-border commerce alongside the neighboring city Ciudad Juárez in Mexico.