US Lifts Flight Restrictions on Mexican Airlines While Banning Drones Along Southern Border

The US Department of Transportation took two significant aviation actions on Friday affecting the US-Mexico border region. It withdrew a 2025 order that had barred Mexican airlines from adding new flights between Mexico City's airports and US destinations, immediately clearing the way for carriers operating from the Benito Juarez international airport and the newer Felipe Angeles airport to expand service to American cities.

Separately, the Transportation Department announced it is immediately banning unauthorized drone flights within one nautical mile of the US-Mexico border, up to 400 feet in altitude. The restriction is tied to ongoing security missions targeting illicit cartel activity, and comes days after the Trump administration said the Department of Defense disabled cartel drones that had breached US airspace, an incident that also prompted the FAA to briefly halt all flights at El Paso International Airport before lifting that order the same week.