Lajitas Airstrip

While there is no official statement, the closure is widely believed to be a result of Mexican government and military efforts to combat drug trafficking. Unmonitored, remote airstrips like this one, located directly on the U.S.-Mexico border, were frequently used by cartels for smuggling narcotics and other illicit goods. The Mexican government systematically disabled hundreds of such clandestine runways across the country by destroying the surface, blocking them, or simply ceasing any maintenance, rendering them unusable as a security measure.

The site is abandoned and non-operational. Current satellite imagery shows the faint outline of the runway, but it is significantly overgrown with desert vegetation and eroded by weather. The surface is completely unsuitable for any type of aircraft landing or takeoff. There are no remaining structures, markings, or signs of recent human activity. The land is effectively unused and is slowly being reclaimed by the natural desert landscape.

Lajitas Airstrip (Aeropista de Lajitas) was a private, unpaved dirt/gravel runway. Its primary function was to provide general aviation access to a very remote and rugged area of the Chihuahuan Desert in the municipality of Manuel Benavides. It likely served private ranches, landowners, or potentially high-end tourism operations, allowing small aircraft (such as Cessna or Piper models) to fly in directly, bypassing the long and difficult overland journey. Its location, just a few hundred meters south of the Rio Grande and the U.S. town of Lajitas, Texas, made it a convenient, albeit unofficial, cross-border landing spot for those with interests on both sides of the border. Due to its isolation and lack of official oversight, it also held strategic value for illicit operations, contributing to its eventual demise.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the Lajitas Airstrip. Several factors make its revival highly improbable: 1) The ongoing security concerns in the border region. 2) The lack of economic or industrial drivers in the immediate vicinity to justify the cost of reconstruction and maintenance. 3) The proximity of the fully-equipped and operational Lajitas International Airport (T89) just across the border in Texas, which serves the region's tourism needs.