Linares, MX 🇲🇽 Closed Airport
MX-1954
-
923 ft
MX-NLE
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Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 24.91241° N, -99.38997° E
Continent: NA
Type: Closed Airport
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The exact official date of closure is not publicly documented. However, analysis of historical satellite imagery indicates that aviation operations likely ceased in the late 2000s or early 2010s. By 2013, the runway had been clearly repurposed with markings for motorsports, confirming its closure as an aviation facility by that time.
The closure was almost certainly due to economic reasons. As a small airfield without scheduled commercial traffic, its operational costs likely outweighed its revenue. The land became more valuable for alternative commercial uses. There is no evidence to suggest the closure was due to a major accident, military conversion, or regulatory action. The transition to a private racetrack indicates a deliberate business decision to repurpose the asset.
The site has been completely repurposed and is no longer used for aviation. The former runway is now a private racetrack and drag strip, often referred to as 'Pista Cerro Prieto' or 'Autódromo Cerro Prieto Linares'. It is actively used for amateur and semi-professional drag racing and other motorsport events, with clear markings for a 1/4-mile track painted on the asphalt. The surrounding area has also seen development, including the construction of a large solar farm adjacent to the former airport property, further cementing the land's shift away from aviation.
Cerro Prieto Airport was a local, general aviation airfield serving the municipality of Linares, Nuevo León. It never had scheduled commercial passenger service, hence the lack of an IATA code. Its primary role was to support private aviation, including flights for local business owners, ranchers, and agricultural operations (such as crop dusting). It featured a single asphalt runway (approximately 1,500 meters / 4,900 feet long), which was suitable for light to medium-sized private aircraft. Its significance was confined to the local level, providing a vital link for private air transport and agricultural services in the region before its closure.
There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the site as an airport. The significant physical alterations to the runway for its use as a racetrack, combined with its current, active commercial operation as a motorsport venue, make a return to aviation functionally and financially unfeasible. The infrastructure is no longer maintained to aviation standards, and the investment to revert it would be substantial. The land's current use is established and appears to be permanent.