Travel – Ministro Pistarini International Airport, Buenos Aires

This is a travel report on Ministro Pistarini International Airport (EZE) in Buenos Aires. In late 2024 I flew into this airport on a Lufthansa Business Class flight from Frankfurt, and later left in Lufthansa First Class on the return flight back to Frankfurt. I also took an economy domestic return Buenos Aires-Ushuaia-Buenos Aires charter flight with Aerolíneas Argentinas, as part of a cruise package to the Antarctic.

International arrivals

The airport website has a interactive terminal map. I’ve not included examples here because I found it a little confusing, and not that useful.

However I did not find the airport layout particularly complicated. There is very little to write about international arrivals in Buenos Aires. Like most airports it can be a hit-or-miss experience.

It was my first visit to Argentina and to South America, so I was expecting to have a few problems. But equally I expected that things would run reasonably smoothly, and that I would just have to be patient.

Preparation is always essential, and my key points were:-

I was travelling with only one “wheelie” suitcase, less than 23 kg, and with an easily identifiable red strap.
I also had only one piece of hand luggage, a backpack weighing less than 4 kg.
I had some $US in 10s, 20s. and 50s.
I had used Booking for my first hotel, and I had pre-booked a taxi with them as well.
I had checked and re-checked that with my passport, I would not need a visa, etc.
I understood enough Spanish to get around, and I could always fall back on Italian, although most younger Argentinians speaks some English, sometimes very well. Older people, such as the cab drivers I met, didn’t speak much English.

What are the key moments? Firstly passport control, second luggage collection, last, getting to my hotel in the city.

There was the usual zig-zag route to get through passport control, but it was relatively quick. A number system was operating to tell you which passport control station to take. There were around 8-10 working when I went through, and there was a separate area for Argentinean nationals. The lady who checked my passport was very friendly. She took a portrait photo and a fingerprint scan of my right thumb. She asked about my hotel, and the cruise, and that-was-that. My guess was that the whole control process took no more than 15-20 minutes.

I had to wait for the luggage, but again, no real problem. Everyone exits the arrivals area in the same place, and, as usual, there were a lot of people waiting. And a lot of people with names for pre-booked pickups. Some reviewers mentioned luggage being scanned. I don’t remember this, but it certainly didn’t introduce any delays.

I had booked a hotel transfer with Booking, and had received confirmation and an email from the local company. But the flight had arrived late, no-one was waiting, and I tried to contact the company without any success. I hung around for a while, hoping that someone would turn-up with my name. No such luck.

Right in the international arrivals hall there is Taxiezeiza, which has “oficial” next to its name. There are lots of reviews saying that they are a rip-off, and that the usual yellow-black taxis outside, or an Uber, are better.

My very limited experience is that a yellow-black taxi is probably no less expensive, but it maybe that they have a special airport-to-city rate. Also I don’t know where you could pick-up a pre-booked uber in the airport area. On the other hand I saw a lot of people using Taxiezeiza, so I booked one as well for $US 39. Which for a 40-50 minute drive into the city felt reasonable for me.

They gave me a receipt, and after a few minutes my driver appeared and we left the airport building through a side entrance to a nearby parking area. It was a simple small white van. There was enough space for my suitcase, and a decent seat, but certainly no luxury. The whole trip to my hotel in the barrio Recoleta took around 1½ hour due to a motorcycle accident.

My first hotel had offered me a pick-up for $US 70, and later my other hotel in Buenos Aires had offered to pick me up from my return flight from Ushuaia for $US 170. These prices appeared to me to be excessive.

Returning to the airport after my stay in Buenos Aires, my hotel simply booked me a local yellow-black taxi to the airport. Again there was some traffic and the whole trip took about 1 hour. I paid what was on the meter, $ARS 50,000 (so about $US 50).

See my report on flying to Buenos Aires in Business Class with Lufthansa.

Domestic flight

As part of my cruise to Antarctica, a chartered domestic flight to and from Ushuaia was included.

This meant that boarding, etc. was made easier. The flight was in the morning, and I had to deposit my check-in luggage outside my room before 22:00 the night before. We would all only see our luggage in the arrival hall at Ushuaia.

Wakeup was at 04:00, breakfast from 04:30, and everyone had to board a specific coach at a specific time starting from 05:30. Boarding cards were distributed, and all we had to do was go through passport control and security and sit and wait until the flight was called.

Returning to Buenos Aires from Ushuaia was relatively simple. Pickup luggage, and I walked out into domestic arrivals where I found a different kiosk for Taxiezeiza, Cost was again $US 39, and it was the same type of small white van. Again traffic was quite intense, and the trip to my second hotel took just over 1 hour.

I have written up a separate report on the charter flight with the national carrier Aerolíneas Argentinas.

International departures

My only experience was with my return flight to Frankfurt, flying Lufthansa First Class.

My yellow-black taxi dropped me in front of the Lufthansa entrance. In the new airport terminal building a number of different carriers are marked over the different entrances. Entering the departure hall, just to the right, there were the check-in desks for Lufthansa.

I had completed the online check-in, had my First Class boarding card on my iPhone, so I just had to check-in my luggage. They nevertheless printed out my boarding cards for this flight, and my connecting flight in Frankfurt.

They gave me a fast track pass and pointed me to the escalators to departures on the first floor.

What we see above is “SOL” by Julio Le Parc, a pioneer in kinetic art. It was specially created in 2023 as a visual tribute to the Argentine flag. The 2 ton mobile, 10 meters in diameter, is composed of 2,913 pieces of 33×33 centimetre golden mirrored stainless steel tiles purchased in Japan. It hangs 19 meters above the escalators leading to the immigration and security control area.

After the escalators, to the left there was a fast track entry. They checked my fast track pass, passport and boarding card. Passport control took my photograph, and checked my right hand thumb print. Presumably checking that I was the same person now leaving Argentina. I was the only person using that fast track route, so it was truly fast track (see below).

I could then go down an escalator to the ground-floor departure hall.

Business and First Class lounge

At check-in they had told me the lounge was in front of gate 9. Again on the first floor there was the rather uninspiring lounge entrance as seen above on the right.

According to airport website it is open 24 hours daily. It would appear that many international flights are scheduled during late-night and early-morning hours to align with global time zones and optimise airline operations.

You find the usual things in any business lounge, e.g. comfortable seating, complimentary self-service buffet with a selection of refreshments, wi-fi, international power outlets, USB charging points, TV, and I’ve read that there are also showers.

The lounge is for Business Class passengers, and there is no separate lounge for First Class. The only thing is 8 seats cordoned off, and reserved for First Class passengers. The food, drinks, etc. are all Business Class quality.

One reviewer summed it up well, by saying the lounge was OK, not the worst airport business lounge, but one that he would be happy to never visit again. I agree. In terms of First Class facilities, it was a joke.

But we were escorted to Gate 20 by a hostess.

For some reason at the gate we were delayed from priority boarding for about 10 minutes, whist some other priority passengers boarded, along with the elderly and families with children.

See my report on flying from Buenos Aires to Frankfurt in First Class with Lufthansa.