Ministro Pistarini International Airport
|Ministro Pistarini International Airport
Aeropuerto Internacional Ministro Pistarini
|Aerial view of the airport|
|Main concourse at Terminal A|
|IATA: EZE – ICAO: SAEZ
– WMO: 87576
|Owner||Argentine Government (Minister of Federal Planning and Public Utilities)|
|Operator||Aeropuertos Argentina 2000|
|Elevation AMSL||21 m / 67 ft|
|Sources: AIP, ORSNA, WorldAeroData, Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 statistics for 2012|
Ministro Pistarini International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional Ministro Pistarini) (IATA: EZE, ICAO: SAEZ), more commonly known as Ezeiza International Airport owing to its location within the Ezeiza Partido in the Greater Buenos Aires, is an international airport located 22 kilometres (14 mi) south-southwest of Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina. It is the country's largest international airport by number of passengers handled —85% of international traffic—, and serves as a hub for the international services of Aerolíneas Argentinas and LAN Argentina. Covering an area of 3,475 hectares (13.42 sq mi; 8,590 acres), the airport serves both the city of Buenos Aires and its metropolitan area. It has been operated by Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 S.A. since 1998.
Ministro Pistarini Airport was voted “2007 best airport in the region” following a survey carried out by Skytrax. However, it shifted to the third place in 2010, behind Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport and Jorge Chávez International Airport.
The airport was named after the general and politician Juan Pistarini (1882–1956). The first civilian flight from the then new London Heathrow Airport, a BSAA Avro Lancastrian, flew to Ministro Pistarini International Airport in 1946.
Completely designed and erected by Argentine technicians, the airport was built between 1945 and 1949. Its construction was one of the major projects included in the five-year plan of the first presidency of Juan Perón. At the time it was inaugurated it was the largest airport in Latin America, the third largest in the world, and the only one with three crossed runways (05/23, 11/29 and 17/35) that resembled the shape on an equilateral triangle. In 1997, RWY 05/23 was closed, and now it is used for large aircraft (such as the Airbus A340 or Boeing 747) for parking while cleaning and refueling.
|This section does not cite any references or sources. (March 2013)|
The Riccheri Motorway connects the airport with downtown Buenos Aires. There are no rail links between the airport and the city. The closest rail station is Ezeiza, the railway line passing through it having Constitución station as terminus. Ezeiza station can be reached by bus number 518. Other bus lines entering the terminal are the 8, 51 and 394. The first of them offers a semi-rapid service between the airport and downtown Buenos Aires that partly runs through the Riccheri Motorway, whilst the other two links the airport with several cities located within the southern Buenos Aires metropolitan area. Although the service offered by these buses is cheap, passengers with large luggage are often not carried as the buses lack luggage capacity. Another way of accessing the terminal is by taxi or by a number of charter buses.
citation needed] Effective December 2009 , citizens from countries requiring Argentine nationals a visa to enter its territory —including Australia, Canada and the United States, among others— are levied a “reciprocity fee” on arrival to the airport, which is equivalent to the price Argentine citizens have to pay in order to get a visa from such countries. Until December 2012 , the tax was collected at the airport and was payable in Argentine pesos or dollars; starting that month, the tax must be paid in advance at the country of origin, and exclusively online.[
In October 2012 For this month, the airport handled 767,824 passengers, a 10.9% increase compared to October 2011 ; the number 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 indicate a 7.3% increase, year-on-year., Ezeiza Airport recorded the highest traffic growth, year-on-year, among all the airports operated by Aeropuertos Argentina 2000.
Terminals, airlines and destinations 
New terminal C was inaugurated in July 2011 as of December 2011[update], its facilities are partly used by Aerolíneas Argentinas, Air France and Alitalia for their operations. More SkyTeam members are expected to move their operations to the terminal in the future as well. In March 2013 , new terminal B was officially inaugurated; this new facility, which covers an area of 28,795 square metres (309,950 sq ft), will be used by both Aerolíneas Argentinas and KLM.;
As announced in August 2011 Qantas withdrew their services to the airport in favour of Santiago de Chile in March 2012 ; flights to Ezeiza Airport had begun four years earlier, in November 2008 . This followed Malaysia Airlines termination of their Boeing 747-served Kuala Lumpur–Cape Town–Buenos Aires route in early 2012 as part of cost-cutting measures. KLM resumed operations at the airport in October 2011 , after a ten-year gap. The latest carrier that started operations in Ezeiza Airport is Turkish Airlines, extending its Istanbul–São Paulo service in December 2012 .,
Passenger airlines 
- 1: Air France's flight from Buenos Aires to Paris makes a stop in Montevideo. However, the airline does not have traffic rights to transport passengers solely between Buenos Aires and Montevideo.
Cargo airlines 
Accidents and incidents 
As of August 2011[update], Aviation Safety Network records 30 accidents/incidents for aircraft that departed from the airport or had it as a destination. The list below provides a summary of only fatal events that took place at or in the vicinity of the airport.
Accidents involving fatalities 
- 23 October 1996. Fuerza Aérea Argentina 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, 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–Camba Puntá Airport 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 perished in the accident.
See also 
- "SAEZ/Ezeiza Ministro Pistarini fact sheet" (in Spanish). AIP. Archived from the original on 19 July 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
- "Aeropuerto Internacional de Ezeiza “Ministro Pistarini”" [Ezeiza “Ministro Pistarini” International Airport] (in Spanish). Organismo Regulador del Sistema Nacional de Aeropuertos (ORSNA). Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
- Airport information for Ministro Pistarini Airport at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.
- "El tráfico de pasajeros aumentó el 8,9 por ciento en 2012" [Passenger traffic increased 8.9 per cent in 2012] (Press release) (in Spanish). Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 S.A. 21 January 2013. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013.
- "Argentina Transfers International Airport Today". Business News Americas. 27 May 1998. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
- Gill, Tom (1 March 1998). "Milan moves in to manage". Flightglobal.com. Airline Business. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
- "Ezeiza chosen as best airport in the region; Santiago second". MercoPress. 6 September 2007. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
- "Lima and Santiago airports are Latin America’s leaders". MercoPress. 30 December 2010. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
- "Civil aviation news". Flight: 731. 8 December 1949. Archived from the original on 29 March 2013. "Peron's pride: Probably the largest and most modern air terminus in the world, the new "Ministro Pistarini" airport at Buenos Aires is one and a half time as big as London Airport. Covering an area of 19 square miles, it has three runways, one of which is 3,060 yards in length, and is capable of accommodating aircraft up to 150 tons in weight. The airport was designed and built entirely by Argentinian technicians and is one of the major projects in General Peron's five-year plan."
- "Civil Aviation News...". Flight: 494. 21 October 1948. Archived from the original on 29 March 2013. "Work on the new airport at Ezeiza, near Buenos Aires, is nearly completed and, provisionally, it will be in operation at the end of the year. Covering 18,600 acres, it is claimed to be the third largest international airport in the world."
- Háskel, Guillermo (18 October 2006). "Argentine: Violence mars Perón coffin transfer". MercoPress. Buenos Aires Herald. Archived from the original on 19 July 2012.
- Sopeña, Germán (22 June 1998). "Hace 25 años, la masacre de Ezeiza enlutaba a la Argentina" [The Ezeiza massacre mourned Argentina 25 years ago] (in Spanish). La Nación. Archived from the original on 21 April 2012.
- "El pago online de un impuesto para extranjeros dificulta el ingreso de turistas" (in Spanish). infobae.com. 22 March 2013. Archived from the original on 29 March 2013.
- "Argentina begun enforcing "reciprocity tax" in Ezeiza airport". MercoPress. 29 December 2009. Archived from the original on 21 April 2012. "All foreign visitors arriving in Argentina’s international airport of Ezeiza and who live in countries that charge the Argentines before they enter, will have to pay a reciprocity tax."
- "Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 reports 13% pax increase in Oct-2012". Centre for Aviation. 14 November 2012. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
- "El tráfico de pasajeros aumentó el 9,3 por ciento en los primeros diez meses del año" [Passenger traffic rose 9.3% in the first ten months of the year] (in Spanish). Centre for Aviation. 14 November 2012. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
- Garffoglio, Loreley (7 July 2011). "Ezeiza estrena una nueva terminal" [Ezeiza's new terminal commences operations] (in Spanish). La Nación. Archived from the original on 21 April 2012.
- "Ezeiza: nueva organización de operaciones de las líneas aéreas internacionales" [Ezeiza: new organisation for the operations of international airlines] (Press release) (in Spanish). Aeropuertos Argentina 2000. 28 December 2011. Archived from the original on 31 December 2011.
- "Aerolíneas estrenó la Terminal C" [Aerolíneas commenced operations in terminal C] (in Spanish). La Nación. 17 July 2011. Archived from the original on 19 July 2012.
- Pagani, Josefina (15 July 2011). "Comenzó a operar ayer la nueva terminal C en Ezeiza" [Ezeiza's new terminal C started operations yesterday] (in Spanish). La Nación. Archived from the original on 19 July 2012.
- "Aerolineas Argentinas begins flights to the new terminal at Ezeiza" (Press release). Aerolíneas Argentinas. 12 July 2011. Archived from the original on 19 July 2012. "Terminal “C” also has an exclusive VIP lounge, called “Salon Condor”, especially designed to meet the requirements determined by the Sky Team Alliance, of which Aerolineas Argentinas is becoming a member. The VIP salon will not only be used by Aerolineas Argentinas’ passengers but also by the passengers on all airlines in the alliance."
- "Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 confirms opening of Buenos Aires Ezeiza terminal B". Centre for Aviation. 28 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013.
- "Aeropuertos Argentina: Quedó inaugurada la Terminal B de Ezeiza" [Aeropuertos Argentina: Ezeiza's terminal B was inaugurated] (in Spanish). Centre for Aviation. 28 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013.
- "Building a Stronger Qantas" (Press release). Qantas Airways Limited. 16 August 2011. Archived from the original on 11 December 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
- "Qantas launches Santiago flights" (Press release). Qantas Airways Limited. 26 March 2012. Archived from the original on 11 December 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
- "Qantas commences non-stop services from Sydney to Buenos Aires" (Press release). Qantas Airways Limited. Archived from the original on 11 December 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
- "Malaysia Airlines Implements Route Rationalisation to Stem Losses and Improve Regional Network" (Press release). Malaysia Airlines. 14 September 2011. Archived from the original on 11 December 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
- "KLM Launches Service to Four New Latin-American Destinations" (Press release). KLM. 2 November 2011. Archived from the original on 11 December 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
- "KLM resumes scheduled services to Buenos Aires" (Press release). KLM. 16 February 2011. Archived from the original on 11 December 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
- "Turkish Airlines adds Buenos Aires (Argentina), Sebha (Libya), Niamey (Nijer), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Yaounde (Cameroon), Douala (Cameroon), Isfahan (Iran) to its growing network..." (Press release). Turkish Airlines. 11 December 2012. Archived from the original on 11 December 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
- Duclos, François (21 March 2013). "Aerolineas Argentinas ira à Belo Horizonte" [Aerolíneas Argentinas will fly to Belo Horizonte] (in French). Air Journal. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013.
- Accident history for Ezeiza-Ministro Pistarini Airport at Aviation Safety Network
- Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 3 August 2011.
- "AIRLINE SAFETY REVIEW – Fatal accidents: non-passenger flights" (pdf). Flight International: 36. 15 January 1997 – 21 January 1997. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
- Accident description for LV-MGV at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 28 July 2011.
- "Engines eyed in CATA crash". Flightglobal.com. Flight International. 4 November 2003. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aeropuerto de Ezeiza|
- Airport information for Aeropuerto Internacional Ezeiza/Ministro Pistarini at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF, NGA, NOAA.
- Accident history for Ministro Pistarini International Airport at Aviation Safety Network
- Current weather for SAEZ at NOAA/NWS
- Aeropuerto Buenos Aires / Ezeiza at Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 (official web site - English)