Rancho San Antonio Airport

The most probable reason for closure is economic and logistical. As a private airstrip, its operation was entirely dependent on the needs and financial capacity of its owner, the Rancho San Antonio. The closure likely occurred due to a lack of necessity, the high cost of maintenance for infrequent use, or a change in ownership or operations at the ranch. There is no evidence of a specific accident or military action (such as trenching the runway) leading to its closure.

The airport is closed and abandoned. As of the latest satellite imagery, the faint outline of the dirt runway is still visible at coordinates 30.9285, -107.46532. However, it is unmaintained, overgrown with sparse desert vegetation, and unusable for aviation. The site is simply derelict land that is part of the larger ranch property. The surrounding land continues to be actively used for large-scale agriculture.

Rancho San Antonio Airport was a private, rural airstrip with purely local significance. It was not a public or commercial airport. Its primary function was to support the large agricultural and ranching operations of the Rancho San Antonio in the Ascensión municipality of Chihuahua. Operations would have consisted of general aviation aircraft for:
- **Personnel Transport:** Flying owners, managers, and personnel to and from the remote ranch, connecting with larger cities like Ciudad Juárez or Chihuahua.
- **Agricultural Aviation:** Potentially used by crop dusters for fumigating the vast fields in the area.
- **Logistics and Oversight:** Transporting light cargo, parts, and allowing for aerial surveys of the large property. The runway was a simple, unpaved dirt strip approximately 1,500 meters (4,921 feet) in length, suitable only for light, single-engine, or small twin-engine aircraft with STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) capabilities.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the Rancho San Antonio Airport. As a private facility, any decision to reopen would rest solely with the property owner. Given its extended period of disuse and the likely high cost of restoring the runway to a safe, usable condition, the prospect of it being reactivated is considered extremely low to non-existent.