# Ministro Pistarini International Airport

Ministro Pistarini International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional Ministro Pistarini) (IATA: EZE, ICAO: SAEZ), also known as Ezeiza International Airport owing to its location in Ezeiza in Greater Buenos Aires, is an international airport 22 kilometres (14 mi) south-southwest of the autonomous city of Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina. Covering 3,475 hectares (13.42 sq mi; 8,590 acres), it is one of two commercial airports serving Buenos Aires and its metropolitan area, along with Aeroparque Jorge Newbery. 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, Minister of Public Works during the presidency of Juan Perón, 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 Juan Perón. 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: 9,353 feet (2,851 m) runway 10/28, 7,220 feet (2,200 m) 4/22 and 6,892 feet (2,101 m) 16/34.
The Ezeiza massacre took place near the airport in 1973.

## Operations

Since December 2012, citizens from countries requiring an entry visa 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 December 2012 (2012-12) the tax was collected, in Argentine pesos or US dollars, at the airport; since then, the tax must be paid in advance online 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

Terminal C was inaugurated in July 2011; as of December 2011, its facilities were in use by Aerolíneas Argentinas, Air France, and Alitalia for their operations.
In March 2013, terminal B, with an area of 28,795 square metres (309,950 sq ft), was inaugurated, for use by Aerolíneas Argentinas and KLM.
On April 14, 2023, the new Departures Terminal (Terminal de Partidas) was inaugurated. The new terminal features 50,000 square meters (538,195 sq ft) of open surface over 4 floors, with a projected capacity of 30 million passengers per year. The old Terminal A became the new International Arrivals Terminal and the old Terminal C became the new Domestic Arrivals Terminal.

## Airlines and destinations
### Passenger

| Airlines | Destinations |
| Aerolíneas Argentinas | Cancún, El Calafate, Madrid, Mendoza, Miami, Montevideo, Puerto Iguazu, Punta Cana, Rome–Fiumicino, San Salvador de Jujuy, Ushuaia Seasonal: Rio de Janeiro–Galeão, San Carlos de Bariloche, San Martin de los Andes, São Paulo–Guarulhos, Tucumán |
| Aeroméxico | Mexico City |
| Air Canada | São Paulo–Guarulhos, Toronto–Pearson |
| Air Europa | Madrid |
| Air France | Paris–Charles de Gaulle |
| American Airlines | Miami, New York–JFK Seasonal: Dallas/Fort Worth |
| Andes Líneas Aéreas | Seasonal charter: Porto Seguro, São Paulo–Guarulhos |
| Arajet | Punta Cana |
| Avianca | Bogotá, Medellín–JMC |
| Avianca Costa Rica | Guayaquil, Quito, San José (CR) |
| Avianca Ecuador | Bogotá (begins April 1, 2025), Guayaquil, Quito |
| Boliviana de Aviación | Cochabamba, Santa Cruz de la Sierra–Viru Viru |
| British Airways | London–Heathrow, Rio de Janeiro–Galeão |
| Copa Airlines | Panama City–Tocumen |
| Copa Airlines Colombia | Panama City–Tocumen |
| Delta Air Lines | Atlanta Seasonal: New York–JFK |
| Emirates | Dubai–International, Rio de Janeiro–Galeão |
| Ethiopian Airlines | Addis Ababa, São Paulo–Guarulhos |
| Flybondi | Comodoro Rivadavia, El Calafate, Florianópolis, Rio de Janeiro–Galeão, Rio Gallegos, San Carlos de Bariloche, San Salvador de Jujuy, São Paulo–Guarulhos, Ushuaia Seasonal: Punta del Este |
| Gol Linhas Aéreas | Brasília, João Pessoa, Maceió, Natal, Rio de Janeiro–Galeão, Salvador da Bahia, São Paulo–Guarulhos Seasonal: Belo Horizonte–Confins, Florianópolis, Fortaleza, Navegantes, Porto Seguro, Recife |
| Iberia | Madrid |
| ITA Airways | Rome–Fiumicino |
| JetSmart Argentina | El Calafate, Florianópolis, Lima, Puerto Iguazú, Recife (begins 1 July 2025), Rio de Janeiro–Galeão, Salta, San Carlos de Bariloche, Santiago de Chile, Tucumán, Ushuaia |
| JetSmart Chile | Santiago de Chile |
| KLM | Amsterdam, Santiago de Chile |
| LATAM Brasil | São Paulo–Guarulhos Seasonal: Rio de Janeiro–Galeão |
| LATAM Chile | Santiago de Chile |
| LATAM Ecuador | Guayaquil, Lima |
| LATAM Perú | Lima |
| Level | Barcelona |
| Lufthansa | Frankfurt |
| Sky Airline | Salvador da Bahia (begins 2 April 2025), Santiago de Chile |
| Sky Airline Peru | Lima |
| Swiss International Air Lines | São Paulo–Guarulhos, Zurich |
| Turkish Airlines | Istanbul, São Paulo–Guarulhos |
| United Airlines | Houston–Intercontinental |

### Cargo

| Airlines | Destinations |
| Aerolíneas Argentinas Cargo | Río Grande |
| Aeromás | Montevideo |
| Air Class | Asunción, Montevideo |
| Atlas Air | Campinas, Miami, Santiago de Chile |
| Avianca Cargo | Bogotá, Miami, Montevideo |
| DHL Aero Expreso | Miami, Santiago de Chile |
| Kalitta Air | Miami, Santiago de Chile |
| KLM Cargo | Amsterdam, Campinas, Quito |
| LATAM Cargo Brasil | Campinas, Miami, Santiago de Chile |
| LATAM Cargo Colombia | Bogotá, Miami |
| LATAM Cargo Chile | Amsterdam, Campinas, Miami, Santiago de Chile, São Paulo–Guarulhos |
| Lufthansa Cargo | Campinas, Frankfurt, Montevideo, São Paulo–Guarulhos |
| Qatar Airways Cargo | Doha, São Paulo–Guarulhos |
| Sky Lease Cargo | Miami, Montevideo |
| UPS Airlines | Campinas, Miami, Santiago de Chile |

### Route development

Qantas withdrew its service to the airport in favour of Santiago in March 2012; flights to Ezeiza Airport had begun in November 2008. This followed Malaysia Airlines' termination of its Boeing 747-served Kuala Lumpur–Cape Town–Buenos Aires route in early 2012 to cut costs. Aerolíneas Argentinas discontinued the Auckland stopover on the Buenos Aires–Sydney run in July 2012; Sydney was removed from the airline's network in April 2014. South African Airways discontinued its Johannesburg–Buenos Aires service in March 2014.
In June 2010 (2010-6), Qatar Airways launched direct flights between the airport and Doha, 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 January 2012 (2012-1), but in August 2020 discontinued the route. Turkish Airlines extended its Istanbul–São Paulo service to end at Ezeiza in December 2012. Air New Zealand started non-stop flights between the airport and Auckland in December 2015, but discontinued them in 2020. United Airlines cancelled non-stop flights from Newark, New Jersey, in October 2019.
In January 2018, Aerolineas Argentinas cancelled the non-stop flight to Barcelona. Later, low-cost carriers LEVEL and Norwegian started long-haul flights to Ezeiza airport from Barcelona and London-Gatwick, respectively. The Norwegian carrier discontinued the route in April 2020. Ethiopian Airlines and Swiss carrier Edelweiss Air launched new flights to Buenos Aires. Aerolíneas Argentinas started flights to Orlando in December 2019, but in March 2020 the route was discontinued. LATAM Argentina ended its operations in June 2020 and discontinued routes to Miami and Brazil. In July 2020, American Airlines discontinued its Los Angeles route.

## Statistics

Traffic by calendar year. Official ACI statistics. :
| | Passengers | Change from previous year | Aircraft operations | Change from previous year | Cargo (metric tons) | Change from previous year |
| 2005 | 6,365,989 | 14.34% | 62,048 | 6.10% | 177,358 | 1.41% |
| 2006 | 6,867,596 | 7.88% | 63,693 | 2.65% | 187,415 | 5.67% |
| 2007 | 7,487,779 | 9.03% | 70,576 | 10.81% | 204,909 | 9.33% |
| 2008 | 8,012,794 | 7.01% | 71,037 | 0.65% | 205,506 | 0.29% |
| 2009 | 7,910,048 | 1.28% | 67,488 | 5.00% | 162,806 | 20.78% |
| 2010 | 8,786,807 | 11.08% | 65,063 | 3.59% | 212,890 | 30.96% |
| Source: Airports Council International. World Airport Traffic Statistics (Years 2005–2010) |||||||
Busiest international routes from and to Ezeiza (2017) :
| Rank | City | Passengers |
| 1 | Santiago, Chile | 1,130,000 |
| 2 | Miami, USA | 1,001,000 |
| 3 | Lima, Peru | 896,000 |
| 4 | Madrid, Spain | 815,000 |
| 5 | São Paulo, Brazil | 739,000 |
| 6 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 654,000 |
| 7 | Bogotá, Colombia | 372,000 |
| 8 | Rome, Italy | 332,000 |
| 9 | New York City | 329,000 |
| 10 | Panama City, Panama | 275,000 |

## Accidents and incidents

As of August 2011, Aviation Safety Network recorded 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 Flight 5025, a Boeing 707-320C, 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 in Santiago, Chile. The aircraft broke up and burst into flames. Two occupants of the aircraft died.
* 26 October 2003: CATA Línea Aérea Flight 760, a Fairchild FH-227B, tail number LV-MGV, was operating a nonscheduled Ezeiza–Corrientes freighter service when it encountered technical difficulties shortly after takeoff from Ezeiza Airport. The aircraft attempted a belly landing 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.