Ministro Pistarini International Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto Internacional Ministro Pistarini) , also known as Ezeiza International Airport owing to its location in the

Ezeiza Partido Ezeiza Partido is a partido ( second-level administrative subdivision) located in the southern part of Gran Buenos Aires in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The provincial subdivision has a population of 160,219 inhabitants in an area of , and ...

Greater Buenos Aires Greater Buenos Aires ( es, Gran Buenos Aires, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area ( es, Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the adjac ...

, is an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longe ...

south-southwest of the

Autonomous City of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South Am ...

, the capital city of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Covering it is one of two commercial airports serving Buenos Aires and its metropolitan area, along with

Aeroparque Jorge Newbery Jorge Newbery Airfield ( es, link=no, Aeroparque "Jorge Newbery", ), commonly known as Aeroparque, is an international airport northeast of downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. The airport covers an area of and is operated by ''Aeropuertos Argen ...

. Pistarini Airport is the country's largest international airport by number of passengers handled—85% of international traffic—and is a hub for international flights of Aerolíneas Argentinas, which operates domestic services from the airport as well. It has been operated by Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 S.A. since 1998.

History

The airport is named after

Juan Pistarini Juan Pistarini (23 December 1882 – 29 May 1956) was an Argentine general and politician. Biography Pistarini was born in the town of Victorica, La Pampa Province. He graduated from the National Military College with a degree in civil eng ...

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facil ...

during the presidency of

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected ...

, who placed the cornerstone of the project on 22 December 1945. It was designed and erected by Argentine technicians. Its construction, which took four years to be completed, was one of the major projects in the five-year plan of the first presidency of

. The airport was inaugurated on 30 April 1949. When it opened it was the third-largest airport in the world. A 1949 diagram shows three runways crossing at 60-degree angles: runway 10/28, 4/22 and 16/34. The Ezeiza massacre took place near the airport in 1973.

Operations

Since December 2012, citizens from countries requiring an entry

visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

for Argentine nationals including Australia and Canada are charged a "reciprocity fee" to enter Argentina, equivalent to the price the countries charge Argentine citizens for a visa. Until the tax was collected, in

Argentine peso The peso (established as the ''peso convertible'') is the currency of Argentina, identified by the symbol $ preceding the amount in the same way as many countries using peso or dollar currencies. It is subdivided into 100 '' centavos''. Its ISO ...

s or

US dollar The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

s, at the airport; since then, the tax must be paid in advance

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" or ...

from the country of origin. As of 23 August 2016, the Argentine Government (Presidential Decree No. 959/2016) has resolved to suspend the collection of the reciprocity fee from US passport holders who visit the country for less than 90 days, for tourist or business purposes. In October 2012 Ezeiza Airport recorded the highest annual traffic growth of all the airports operated by ''Aeropuertos Argentina 2000''. For this month, the airport handled 767,824 passengers, a 10.9% increase compared to the previous October; the volume of international and domestic traffic for October 2012 increased 8.7% and 108.3%, respectively, year-on-year. Overall, 2012 traffic figures for the airport indicated a 7.3% increase over the previous year. Figures for July 2013 showed that the airport handled 688,397 passengers, an 8.9% decrease over the previous year.

Terminals

Ministro_Pistarini_International_Airport_-_Terminal_A_-_Buenos_Aires

Terminal C was inaugurated in July 2011; , its facilities were in use by Aerolíneas Argentinas,

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global ai ...

, and

Alitalia Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital. The ai ...

for their operations. In March 2013 terminal B, with an area of , was inaugurated, for use by Aerolíneas Argentinas and KLM.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Route development

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founde ...

withdrew its service to the airport in favour of

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, wh ...

in March 2012; flights to Ezeiza Airport had begun in November 2008. This followed

Malaysia Airlines Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB; ms, Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad), formerly known as Malaysian Airline System (MAS; ), and branded as Malaysia Airlines, is the flag carrier airline of Malaysia and a member of the Oneworld airline alliance. (The ...

' termination of its

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, ...

-served

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

–

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

–Buenos Aires route in early 2012 to cut costs. Aerolíneas Argentinas discontinued the

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

stopover on the Buenos Aires–Sydney run in July 2012;

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountai ...

was removed from the airline's network in April 2014.

South African Airways South African Airways (SAA) is the flag carrier airline of South Africa. Founded in 1934, the airline is headquartered in Airways Park at O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and operated a hub-and-spoke network, serving ten des ...

discontinued its

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to De ...

–Buenos Aires service in March 2014. In ,

Qatar Airways Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. ( ar, القطرية, ''al-Qaṭariya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke ne ...

launched direct flights between the airport and

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...

, but in August 2020 cancelled the route. After a ten-year gap, KLM resumed operations at the airport in October 2011. Emirates launched services to the airport in , but in August 2020 discontinued the route.

Turkish Airlines Turkish Airlines ( Turkish: ''Türk Hava Yolları'') is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey. , it operates scheduled services to 340 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, making it the largest mainline carrier in the ...

extended its

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_ ...

–

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

service to end at Ezeiza in December 2012.

Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 30 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily around and within the Pacifi ...

started non-stop flights between the airport and

in December 2015, but discontinued them in 2020.

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

cancelled non-stop flights from

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Aerolineas Argentinas cancelled the non-stop flight to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. Later,

low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...

LEVEL Level or levels may refer to: Engineering *Level (instrument), a device used to measure true horizontal or relative heights *Spirit level, an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal or vertical *Canal pound or level *Regr ...

and Norwegian started long-haul flights to Ezeiza airport from

and London-Gatwick, respectively. The Norwegian carrier discontinued the route in April 2020. Ethiopian Airlines and Swiss carrier

Edelweiss Air Edelweiss Air AG is a Swiss leisure airline, charter airline and the sister company of Swiss International Air Lines. It operates flights to European and intercontinental destinations from its base at Zürich Airport. History The airline ...

launched new flights to Buenos Aires. Aerolíneas Argentinas started flights to

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

in December 2019 but in March 2020 the route was discontinued. LATAM Argentina ended its operations in June 2020 and discontinued routes to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at t ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. In July 2020

American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...

discontinued its

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

route.

Statistics

Accidents and incidents

Aviation Safety Network The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) is an independent, nonprofit, international organization concerning research, education, advocacy, and communications in the field of aviation safety. FSF brings together aviation professionals from all sectors ...

records 30 accidents/incidents for aircraft that departed from the airport or had it as a destination. The list below provides a summary of the fatal events that took place at or in the vicinity of the airport. * 23 October 1996:

Argentine Air Force "Argentine Wings" , mascot = , anniversaries = 10 August (anniversary) 1 May (Baptism of fire during the Falklands War) , equipment = 139 aircraft , equipment_label = , battles = * Operation Independence * Operation Soberanía * Falkl ...

Flight 5025, a

Boeing 707-320C The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...

, registration LV-LGP, was operating a cargo service when it struck the ground short of the runway on final approach to Ezeiza inbound from Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, broke up, and burst into flames. Two occupants of the aircraft lost their lives. * 26 October 2003: CATA Línea Aérea Flight 760, a Fairchild FH-227B, tail number LV-MGV, was operating a nonscheduled Ezeiza–

Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní: Taragüí, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12. It ha ...

freighter service when it encountered technical difficulties shortly after

takeoff Takeoff is the phase of flight in which an aerospace vehicle leaves the ground and becomes airborne. For aircraft traveling vertically, this is known as liftoff. For aircraft that take off horizontally, this usually involves starting with a ...

from Ezeiza Airport. The aircraft attempted a

belly landing A belly landing or gear-up landing occurs when an aircraft lands without its landing gear fully extended and uses its underside, or belly, as its primary landing device. Normally the term ''gear-up landing'' refers to incidents in which the pilot ...

on a nearby golf course. The aircraft skidded some 200 m before hitting a tree and bursting into flames. All five occupants of the aircraft died in the accident.

References

External links

Aeropuerto de Buenos Aires / Ezeiza
at Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 (official website) * * * {{Authority control Ezeiza, Buenos Aires Airports established in 1949 1949 establishments in Argentina Airports in Buenos Aires Province