Mesa Las Tierras Airport

No single, official reason for the closure is publicly available, which is common for small, private-use airstrips. The closure was most likely due to a combination of economic factors, including the high cost of runway maintenance for very low traffic, a lack of demand, or the cessation of the specific activity (such as a local mining or ranching operation) that it was built to support. It was effectively abandoned and fell into disuse.

The airport is permanently closed and abandoned. An examination of the site via recent satellite imagery confirms that the former runway is completely unusable. It is heavily overgrown with desert scrub and shows signs of significant erosion. There are no visible hangars, terminals, or any other aviation infrastructure remaining on the site. The land appears to be unused and is reverting to its natural state.

Mesa Las Tierras Airport was a small general aviation airstrip (aeródromo) featuring a single dirt/gravel runway approximately 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) long. Its primary significance was providing essential air access to the remote, mountainous municipality of Sahuaripa. It catered to small, single-engine aircraft (like Cessnas or Pipers) and supported operations for local ranchers, mining interests, private transport, and potentially air-taxi or emergency medical services. It served as a vital transportation link in a region where ground travel can be difficult, but it never handled commercial or scheduled airline flights.

There are no known or published plans to reopen Mesa Las Tierras Airport. The current aviation needs of the Sahuaripa community are met by the nearby Sahuaripa Airstrip (ICAO: MMSA), which is operational. Re-establishing the Mesa Las Tierras airstrip would require substantial investment to clear vegetation, regrade the runway surface, and obtain new certifications, making it economically unfeasible, especially with another functional airport in the immediate vicinity.