Buenos Aires Flights

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Please see my previous EZE airport tip for more information.

In general, BA has two airports. Jorge Newbery Aeroparque is the smaller domestic airport, and it's within the city of Buenos Aires. Most domestic flights within the country depart from here.

Newbery is a simple airport to deal with, and if you're arriving or departing at odd hours, you might feel almost lonely. We left on an early AM (0600) flight, and very few people were in the terminal. It does, however, get much more hectic during the day. (see my 2nd photo below, a shot of my daughter in the crowd waiting to depart the aeroparque by remise.... it took Karina a while to get the Citroen up to pick up our luggage)

Always be sure of which airport your flight arrives and departs from. And if you are flying into Newbery from somewhere else in Argentina, and have an international departure planned on the same day from EZE, you'd best put plenty of time between arrival at Newbery and departure from EZE. It's a good idea to have transportation and transfers pre-planned or booked. (see my recommendation for SilverStar Car service for a good option)

Buenos Aires has two airports. One is the large international airport, known in airline terminology as EZE or Ezeiza. It's also called Pistarini. If you are arriving in Argentina from most stops abroad (other than a few South American destinations), your flight will certainly land at EZE.

If you are going into BA, you'll need a taxi or private remise - or maybe a shuttle bus, all are available.

But more importantly, if you have a connecting domestic flight to another destination within Argentina, you're probably going to have to go over to the Newbery Aeroparque within the city. This transfer can take easily 1-2 hours (maybe more) depending on traffic. I would personally NEVER book an continuing flight with less than about five hours between it and my EZE arrival, too many things can go wrong.

Always be sure to confirm exactly where you are flying out of or into Buenos Aires on domestic flights, a FEW of them actually leave or arrive at EZE. Be sure or be in a mess. :)

What about if you enter through the land border and exit through EZE? Would they hit you on the way OUT of the country, or is it only when you come in at EZE?

Thanks for your reply, it has cleared up a lot of confusion already.

The Stats: This is a pretty small airport, nice facilities, good food, very nice view of the river. There are a couple of food courts. Its mainly a domestic airport, only with a couple of regional flights

The Situation: "On 6 July 2010 baggage handlers and ramp personnel affiliated with Aerolineas Argentinas and Austral Airlines staged a surprise strike at Buenos Aires’ Jorge Newbery Airport (SABE/AEP). The group is demanding that airline officials reinstate dismissed workers to alleviate the workload for current employees. The surprise strike has caused delays in takeoffs for both airlines. The group plans to continue the labor action until its demands are met; aviation officials expect the flight delays to continue throughout 6 July as a result." - from a news report

The Story (In a Nutshell): When we first got to the airport, we thought a soccer game was on because we could hear people cheering. Our first flight was delayed for 4 hours. We were subsequently, over the course of the next 26 hours, changed to six different flights. We had to get our baggage back after each canceled flight and go stand in a new ticket line. At one point there were riots. There were people sleeping on every inch of the ground, as they would not let us out of the airport back through customs. My friend and I basically ate and drank at the bar and went to the Duty Free to play video games. At some point during this whole thing, people just started smoking in the airport, since they wouldn't let us out. When we finally started boarding the 6th flight, I realized there had been no soccer game, since we all cheered when we got on the plane.

Located on the banks of the Rio de la Plata, and within the city limits, is Aeroparque Jorge Newbery. This serves as the hub for local flights, so we got to know it well due to our two internal excursions to Iguazu Falls and then the Andes Mountains.

We found it to be a nice airport, smoothly functioning and the flights by Aerolineas Argentinas actually operated almost on schedule! The taxi ride here from our hotel cost A$11 (US$3.50), so no complaints about access!

The only serious problem that we had on our four individual internal flights was AA losing both of our suitcases here when we were in transit from Puerto Iguazu to Mendoza (almost all internal flights pass through BA instead of flying directly from one city to another). They managed to return them to us a day later, so no damage done!

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Before we boarded our flight to Buenos Aires; Liz, Rob and I relaxed in the Admiral's Club. Having status on AA grants Liz and I access to this lounge. I was able to guest Rob into the Club. I enjoying hanging here before a flight with the free drinks, food options, and free internet. We spent a good amount of time here enjoying some snacks and a few beers between Rob & I. Liz caught up on some e-mails and school work while having a club soda with lime.

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A very nice and clean airport, this was our gateway to Iguazu. We arrived for an early flight on LAN to the falls and we didn't wait too long at the check in counter. The agent was quite nice letting us know that our flight number and time had changed slightly, but that we were confirmed on the flight. He also tried to get us on an later flight from Iguazu Falls back to Buenos Aires, but said that the later flight would be too short of a connection time and he didn't recommend it, I am glad we listened to him for upon our return, the airport was packed and we got stuck in horrible traffic from this airport to Ezezia.

The airport had a few places to grab something to eat, a few duty free shops and security was a breeze.

The airport is much closer than Ezezia, about 15 minutes from the city center.

Ezezia is the international airport in Buenos Aires and if you are arriving/departing on an international flight you will be transiting through here.

The airport is quite small for an international airport and there seems to be some on going construction, but I found it to be quite efficient as we actually breezed through customs on our arrival.

They have a pretty small duty free area where you can make last minute purchases, especially for their delicious wine as well as a VAT booth and the Departure tax booth.

My choice of airlines is American Airlines which has 2 daily non-stop service from JFK to EZE (incidently, only an hour apart from each other). The flight is a grueling 12 hour flight especially if you are flying in coach, but the flights are both evening flights, which makes it a bit easier on the body.