Benito Juárez (Santa Elena) Airport

The closure was due to economic reasons. The airstrip's primary function was to support the local economy, which was almost entirely dependent on tourism from visitors crossing over from Big Bend National Park in Texas. When the United States closed the informal Santa Elena/Castolon border crossing around 2002, the flow of tourists and revenue to the town of Manuel Benavides (Santa Elena) stopped. This eliminated the demand for the airstrip, leading to its disuse and abandonment.

The site is an abandoned and unmaintained airfield. Satellite imagery confirms the original dirt runway is still visible but is in a state of disrepair, with significant vegetation growth and surface erosion. It is completely unusable for aircraft in its current condition. The surrounding land has not been redeveloped and the airstrip remains a relic of the area's more prosperous, pre-9/11 era.

Benito Juárez (Santa Elena) Airport was a simple but vital dirt airstrip for the extremely remote community of Manuel Benavides. Its main purpose was to facilitate general aviation traffic, primarily serving American tourists and private pilots flying in from the United States to visit the Mexican town opposite Big Bend National Park's Santa Elena Canyon. It provided a crucial link for tourism and also served local needs, such as transportation for area ranchers and businesses in a region with limited road infrastructure.

There are no known plans or credible prospects for reopening the airport. A reopening would be entirely dependent on the reopening of the Santa Elena border crossing and a major resurgence in local tourism, neither of which is anticipated in the foreseeable future. The infrastructure would require a complete overhaul, an investment that is not considered viable given the current economic and geopolitical situation of this remote border area.