EZE or Aeroparque? Buenos Aires Actually Has Two Airports

The first time I planned a trip here, I typed “Buenos Aires airport” into a search box and booked a transfer with total confidence, as if the city only had one. It doesn’t. I found this out the inconvenient way, sitting in Ezeiza with a domestic boarding pass for a flight that, it turned out, was not leaving from Ezeiza at all. Since then I’ve flown in and out of both of the city’s airports more times than I can count, and I still meet people making the same assumption I made. So let me untangle it properly, because getting this wrong doesn’t just cost you an awkward moment at a check-in desk — it can cost you a connection.

Two airports, two different jobs

Buenos Aires is served by Ministro Pistarini International Airport, universally known by its code EZE, and by Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, known as AEP. They are not alternatives to each other and they are not interchangeable. They do different jobs.

EZE is the international gateway. If you are flying in from Europe, North America, most of Asia, or almost anywhere outside South America, you will land at EZE. It sits well outside the city, to the south-west, in a genuinely different administrative area from the Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires itself. It has the scale and the infrastructure you’d expect of a long-haul hub: duty-free, lounges, the works.

AEP is the domestic and regional workhorse. This is where you go for flights within Argentina — Iguazú, Bariloche, Mendoza, Ushuaia, the whole map of internal destinations — and for many flights to neighbouring countries. What makes AEP unusual, and genuinely convenient, is that it sits right on the river, close to Palermo and not far from Retiro. It functions almost like a city airport, the way some European capitals have one.

I lean on a simple rule now: EZE is for arriving in the country, AEP is for moving around inside it. It isn’t a rule without exceptions — a handful of regional and charter routes shift between the two, and airlines occasionally reassign flights — but as a rule of thumb it has never steered me wrong.

The mix-up that trips almost everyone up

Here’s the confusion I run into constantly, in messages from readers and in conversation with other travellers at hostels and hotel breakfasts: people plan a Buenos Aires stay, then bolt on a side trip to somewhere like Iguazú Falls, and assume that internal flight leaves from the same airport their international one landed at. It doesn’t, in the vast majority of cases. Your long-haul flight lands at EZE. Your flight up to Iguazú almost certainly leaves from AEP. That means a transfer across the city between the two airports, not a quick walk between terminals.

This is exactly the kind of detail that unravels an itinerary if it’s discovered the day before rather than weeks before. If your trip includes any onward flight inside Argentina — Iguazú is the classic case for readers of this site, since the falls are roughly a two-hour flight away and not a realistic road trip — build in the fact that you are moving between two airports on two sides of the city, not walking between gates.

So which one will you actually use?

Flight type	Airport
Long-haul international arrival/departure	EZE
Most flights to/from other South American capitals	Usually EZE, sometimes AEP — check your ticket
Domestic flights within Argentina (Iguazú, Bariloche, Mendoza, etc.)	AEP
Flights to Montevideo or Punta del Este	Often AEP, but confirm on your ticket

The honest answer, and the only one I’ll give without hedging, is: read your boarding pass, not your assumption. Airlines do shuffle routes between the two airports as schedules change, and I have seen regional routes move from one to the other between one year and the next. The three-letter code on your ticket — EZE or AEP — is the only fact that matters, not what you think “the Buenos Aires airport” ought to be.

If your trip is EZE in, EZE out, with no internal flights, you can mostly ignore Aeroparque altogether — it will never enter your itinerary. If there’s any domestic leg involved, plan on both.

What I won’t tell you, and why

I’m deliberately not going to give you a transfer time in minutes or a taxi fare in pesos here, and that’s not me being lazy. Buenos Aires traffic is genuinely unpredictable at different times of day, and more importantly, Argentina’s peso has been through years of very high inflation and repeatedly changing rules around currency and payments. Any number I typed today would be stale in a matter of weeks, maybe less. What was a reasonable fare estimate a year ago might now be laughably wrong in either direction. I’d rather send you to something that stays current than hand you a figure that quietly misleads you.

What I will say is: build in a real buffer if you’re crossing between EZE and AEP, because you are effectively crossing the city, not moving between terminals at one airport. Check current transfer options and approximate timings closer to your travel date, and always check the live exchange rate rather than trust a figure printed anywhere, including here.

If you land at EZE after a long flight and want to start the trip gently rather than immediately negotiating a transfer, I’ve occasionally treated myself to a bit of quiet time and a shower before facing the city — the EZE airport lounge earns its cost on a red-eye landing, even if you’re not flying business class.

Planning around the two-airport reality

Once you’ve internalised that there are two airports, the rest of the planning gets easier. A first Buenos Aires visit that stays purely within the city and its immediate surroundings, such as a four-day exploration of the city, never needs to touch AEP at all — everything happens through EZE. It’s only once you start adding day trips or extensions that AEP enters the picture: a hop to Iguazú Falls, a flight down to Patagonia, or a regional jump to a neighbouring capital.

I’d also gently push back on treating Colonia del Sacramento or Montevideo as an airport question at all — both are reached by ferry from Puerto Madero, not by plane, which sidesteps this whole EZE/AEP debate entirely for that leg of a trip. If a day across the river appeals, a guided day trip to Montevideo with lunch and the ferry included handles the border crossing logistics for you.

For anyone building a longer stay that mixes the city with the pampas or the delta, worth reading alongside this is a broader Buenos Aires itinerary or the dedicated piece on getting around Buenos Aires, which covers city transport rather than the airports themselves.

For a full, structured city introduction that also touches a gaucho day out in the pampas, a multi-day four-day Buenos Aires discovery tour is a solid framework to build a first visit around, and pairs naturally with an estancia day with an asado once the city portion is done.

Frequently asked questions about Buenos Aires’s two airports

Does Buenos Aires have one airport or two?

Two. Ezeiza (EZE) is the international airport, about 35 km south of the city centre. Aeroparque Jorge Newbery (AEP) is the domestic and regional airport, located within the city on the riverfront near Palermo.

Which airport do international flights use?

Nearly all long-haul international flights use EZE (Ministro Pistarini International Airport). AEP handles some regional flights to neighbouring countries, but check your specific ticket.

Which airport do I need for a flight to Iguazú Falls?

Flights to Iguazú, along with most other domestic Argentine destinations, depart from AEP (Aeroparque), not EZE. If you’re arriving internationally at EZE, you’ll need to transfer across the city to AEP for the onward flight.

Can I walk or take a quick shuttle between EZE and AEP?

No. They are on opposite sides of the city, roughly across from each other, and moving between them means a proper transfer across Buenos Aires, not a walk between terminals at a shared airport.

How do I know which airport my flight uses?

Check the three-letter airport code on your boarding pass or e-ticket: EZE or AEP. Airlines occasionally shift specific routes between the two airports, so the code on your own ticket is the only reliable source, not a general assumption.

Is it expensive or slow to transfer between the two airports?

It depends heavily on traffic and on current transport options, and fares shift with Argentina’s ongoing currency and inflation situation. Rather than rely on a fixed figure, check current transfer times and prices shortly before you travel.

Do ferries to Uruguay use either airport?

No. Ferries to Colonia del Sacramento and Montevideo depart from Puerto Madero in the city, not from either airport, so that leg of a trip doesn’t involve EZE or AEP at all.

Should I book my international and domestic flights with enough gap in between?

Yes, generally. Since EZE and AEP are on opposite sides of the city, a short connection between an international arrival and a domestic departure is riskier than it would be at a single combined airport. Build in a comfortable buffer rather than a tight one.