El Coyote Airport

No official reason for the closure has been published. The most likely cause is economic non-viability and abandonment. As a small airstrip serving a remote town with a population of less than 1,000, it likely lacked the consistent traffic from private aviation, agriculture, or tourism to justify the costs of maintenance and operation. There is no evidence to suggest it was closed due to a specific accident or for military conversion.

The airport is permanently closed and abandoned. Current satellite imagery clearly shows the outline of the dirt/gravel runway, but it is in a severe state of disrepair. The surface is heavily eroded, unmaintained, and significantly overgrown with desert scrub and vegetation. There are no visible aircraft, hangars, terminal buildings, or any other associated infrastructure remaining on the site. The land is unused and is slowly reverting to the natural surrounding Chihuahuan Desert landscape.

El Coyote Airport was a small, general aviation airstrip with a single unpaved runway. Its primary role was to provide air access for the remote municipality of Coyame del Sotol. Operations were limited to light, single-engine, or small twin-engine aircraft. It likely served local ranchers, business interests, and potentially a very small number of tourists visiting local attractions like the Pegüis Canyon or the nearby hot springs. It was never a commercial airport and did not handle scheduled passenger or cargo flights. While the town is famous for the 1974 'Coyame UFO Incident', there is no reliable evidence linking this specific, more modern airstrip to the events of that time.

There are no known or published plans to reopen El Coyote Airport. Given its advanced state of decay, the significant investment required for its reconstruction, the small population of the area, and the relative proximity (approx. 1.5-2 hours by road) to the General Roberto Fierro Villalobos International Airport (CUU) in Chihuahua City, any prospect for reopening is considered extremely low to non-existent.