US closes airspace over Texas border town for 10 days for 'special security reasons'

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has closed the airspace surrounding the Texas border town of El Paso for 10 days.

Local authorities including the El Paso International Airport and City of El Paso government confirmed flights would not take off or land from Tuesday at 11:30pm (Wednesday 0630GMT) to February 20 at 11:30pm, (February 21 at 0630GMT).

City Council member Chris Canales, who represents an area on the southwestern side of El Paso, told the BBC local authorities did not receive any advance notice or reason for the closure.

The FAA said in a statement that the restrictions were for "special security reasons".

Long-term airspace closures are rare, as the FAA website said since 2018 it has cut airspace closures from an average of more than four hours per launch to just more than two hours.

The restriction is over a 10-mile radius around El Paso, which includes parts of southern New Mexico, west of the town San Teresa.

"The notice was published without any advance notice to local governments or to local air traffic controllers," Canales said.

"There are some folks who are panicking a bit because of how highly unusual this is, and if you look at El Paso on the map you can see what unique geographical position it is," he added.

Mexico's Ciudad Juarez is just south and west of El Paso, and US Army base Fort Bliss and White Sands Missile Range lie to the north.

Fort Bliss is a military post focused on training and White Sands Missile Range is the country's largest overland testing range for missiles, rockets and advanced weapons.

In a post shared by the City of El Paso on Facebook, El Paso International Airport confirmed all flights were grounded, "including commercial, cargo and general aviation".

"Travellers should contact their airlines to get most up-to-date flight status information," the statement said.

The BBC has contacted the FAA and the city of El Paso for comment.