Barabaguachi Airport

The closure was due to a combination of factors: 1) **Redundancy:** The primary reason is the construction and 2024 opening of the nearby Creel Barrancas del Cobre International Airport (ICAO: MMGA), a modern facility designed to be the main air hub for the region. 2) **Economic Non-viability:** As a small, unpaved dirt strip with no infrastructure, it could not support modern tourism or commercial needs, making it economically unsustainable to maintain. 3) **Security Concerns:** The Mexican government has a history of disabling small, unregulated airstrips in regions like Chihuahua to prevent their use for illicit activities by drug cartels.

The site is completely abandoned and derelict. Satellite imagery confirms the location contains a faint outline of a dirt runway that is heavily eroded, overgrown with grass and shrubs, and completely unusable for any aviation purposes. There are no remaining airport structures such as hangars, terminals, or fencing. The land has reverted to its natural, undeveloped state.

When active, Barabaguachi Airport was a classic 'bush strip' vital to the remote Sierra Tarahumara. It served as a critical link for general aviation, connecting the isolated local communities to larger towns. Operations were limited to small, propeller-driven aircraft capable of short and rough field takeoffs and landings (STOL). Its primary functions would have included providing air taxi services for residents, supporting early tourism efforts for the Copper Canyon, facilitating medical and missionary flights, and offering logistical support for local ranching or mining activities.

There are zero prospects for reopening Barabaguachi Airport. The recent inauguration of the Creel Barrancas del Cobre International Airport, located just 15 km (approx. 9 miles) to the southwest, has rendered this small airstrip permanently obsolete. The new airport provides a paved, 2.5 km runway capable of handling commercial jet aircraft, serving the exact tourism and transportation needs that Barabaguachi could never meet. There is no economic or logistical justification for its revival.