Arriving into a new country always fills my stomach with butterflies.
Even though I enjoy that feeling of the “unexpected”, I do usually prefer to be a bit prepared since airports have become the nest of several scams where new confused arrivals are the victims.
Unfortunately (maybe taking advantage of this situation? Maybe just because most airports are located far away from the big cities) transfers in and out of major airports don’t come cheap but I’ll try to include as many options as I can to give you a hand when arriving into Buenos Aires.
First of all, Buenos Aires is served by two airports. The international Ezeiza airport (EZE) and the regional Newbery airport (AEP). Most likely you will be arriving thru EZE, so we’ll concentrate on that one (at least today)
Ezeiza airports located 22 km (13.6 miles) south-southwest of Buenos Aires or Capital Federal, the capital of Argentina.
Ezeiza airport sends and receives flights to/from:
* Aeroméxico (Mexico City)
* Aerosur (Asunción, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz de la Sierra)
* Air Canada ( Toronto-Pearson)
* Air Comet (Madrid)
* Air Europa (Madrid)
* Air France (Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
* Alitalia (Rome-Fiumicino)
* American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami, New York-JFK)
* Avianca (Bogotá)
* British Airways (London-Heathrow, São Paulo-Guarulhos)
* Continental Airlines (Houston-Intercontinental)
* Copa Airlines (Panama City)
* Cubana de Aviación (Havana)
* Delta Air Lines (Atlanta, New York-JFK)
* Gol (Lima, S.Chile, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão)
* Iberia (Madrid)
* LAN Airlines (Santiago de Chile, Miami, Punta Cana, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Guayaquil, Quito, Lima)
* Lufthansa (Frankfurt)
* Malaysia Airlines (Cape Town, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur)
* Mexicana (Mexico City)
* PLUNA (Montevideo)
* Qantas (Sydney)
* TACA (Lima, San José)
* TAM Linhas Aéreas (Brasilia, Porto Alegre, Florianopolis, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Asunción)
* United Airlines (Washington-Dulles)
* Varig (Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, São Paulo-Guarulhos)
* Aerolíneas Argentinas (Auckland, Asuncion, Barcelona, Bogotá, Caracas, El Calafate, Florianópolis, Lima, Madrid, Miami, Montevideo, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, Rio Gallegos, Rome-Fiumicino, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Santiago de Chile, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Sydney, Ushuaia)
At the airport you can find basic services: Money exchange, ATM, stores, restaurants and duty free shop, most of them 24 hours available.
The transfer options (in/out the airport) are:
Car rental
You can arrive in Buenos Aires driving your own car from Alamo, Annie Millet-Hertz, Avis or Localiza.
Taxis
To avoid scams, find the stands of the Ezeiza Municipality Taxis or Buenos Aires Municipality Taxis INSIDE the arrivals hall. You can actually pay for the fare (fixed rate) in advance here (The taxis from the Ezeiza Municipality are the cheapest at US$35 and they will also give you a coupon to return to the airport for US$25) and avoid any kind of misunderstandings with the taxi drivers.
The trip takes less than 45 minutes.
Remises
This is the name for chauffeur cars, basically a regular car with a driver.
This service is offered by Manuel Tienda Leon, Transfer express and Vip Cars and they work with a fix rate of around US$40
The trip takes less than 45 minutes.
Buses
The bus 86 takes you all the way to the city for less than US$2 but expect sitting in a crowded local bus for over 2 hours and be alert for pickpockets!
It could be a fun adventure for those wit a little spanish knowledge!
Airport Shuttle
Manuel Tienda Leon offers an airport shuttle service for US$40 (To the City’s port of Puerto Madero) . Even though there are always local taxis upon arrival in the city, I find the location a bit unpractical and bond to be a victim of a scam by a local cab once in BA.
Manuel Tienda Leon offers a return ticket for US$70 and discounts for students.
All of the options above (except the local bus) offer transportation to the Regional Newbery Airport as well.
If you are only staying in Buenos Aires for a few hours and don’t want to bother your way into the City, there are a couple of lodging options:
Bernie’s B&B
Posada de las Aguilas
Both offer a shuttle service in/out the lodge.
Always remember that you can also count on the bilingual staff at the information desk. Count on them to confirm or update any of the information provided here.
Welcome to BA!
