The Federal Aviation Administration is closing the airspace around El Paso International Airport in Texas for 10 days, grounding all flights to and from the airport.
A notice posted on the FAA's website said the temporary flight restrictions were for "special security reasons," but did not provide additional details. The closure does not include Mexican airspace.
The airport said in an Instagram post that all flights to and from the airport would be grounded from late Tuesday through late Feb. 20, including commercial, cargo and general aviation flights. It suggested travelers contact their airlines to get up-to-date flight information.
President Donald Trump said in an interview Tuesday afternoon, operations to strike drug runners on land would be commencing.
"By knocking out those boats, we have dropped drugs, fentanyl, about 33%; now we're gonna start on land," Trump said in a televised interview. "We had to do the boats first because they would go immediately to the boats.
"Now we're gonna him them on land. We're gonna hit them very hard on land."
The shutdown is likely 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 and larger when you include the surrounding metro area, is hub of cross-border commerce alongside neighboring Ciudad Juarez in Mexico.
The airport describes itself as the gateway to west Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Mexico. Southwest, United, American and Delta all operate flights there, among others.
Newsmax's Eric Mack contributed to this report.
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