Jorge Newbery Airfield , commonly known as Aeroparque, is an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

northwest of downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. The airport covers an area of and is operated by ''Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 S.A.'' It is located along the

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (; ), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda, Colonia, Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and ...

, in the

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

neighbourhood, and serves as the main hub for domestic flights in Argentina and South American destinations.

History

The airport was originally proposed by Mayor Carlos Noel in 1925. A number of feasibility studies and zoning disputes followed. In 1938, plans were submitted for an island airport connected via causeway to Avenida General Paz (then under construction). A former

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

reclaimed in 1916 from the Río de la Plata and closer to downtown was selected instead, and the facility, designed by Aeronautics Secretariat engineer Víctor Acuña in 1945, was inaugurated in 1947 as ''Aeroparque 17 de Octubre'' ( 17 October Airfield). Initially served by a single runway, it began operations in January 1948 as the main hub for domestic flights from Buenos Aires as well as flights to

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

. Its first terminal was completed in 1951, by which time the runway was extended to . The airport was renamed following the 1955 coup against President

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...

in honor of the pioneer of Argentine aviation, Jorge Newbery, and was re-inaugurated in 1960 following work that expanded its main runway to , and also added a new terminal. The

Argentine Air Force The Argentine Air Force (, or simply ''FAA'') is the air force of Argentina and one of three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic. In 2018, it had 13,837 military and 6,900 civilian personnel. FAA commander in chief is Brigadie ...

had a small base built near the eastern end of the airport in 1965; at this site, President

Isabel Perón Isabel Martínez de Perón (, born María Estela Martínez Cartas; 4 February 1931) is an Argentine politician who served as the 41st president of Argentina from 1974 to 1976. She was one of the List of elected and appointed female heads of s ...

was formally deposed by the military in the March 1976 coup. A new terminal for national air carrier Aerolíneas Argentinas was inaugurated in 1981, expanding total terminal area to . Plans to merge Newbery with Ezeiza International Airport in a new facility located on an artificial island were revived in 1996 by a commission headed by Congressman Álvaro Alsogaray, though these plans were ultimately dropped. Its operations, like those of all the nation's public airports, were privatized in 1998 and transferred to ''Aeropuertos Argentina 2000'' (part of the conglomerate owned by local businessman Eduardo Eurnekian). The runway was further extended by in 2007, and work began in 2009 to create greater distance between the nearby Rafael Obligado Coast Highway and the eastern end of the runway. Routes were added in March 2010 to destinations in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, and

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. Work began in 2011 on Terminals III and IV, totaling . These terminals were inaugurated in March 2014, effectively doubling the airport's passenger capacity. A recent increase in the number of airlines and flights operating at the airport has brought it to the limit of its capacity. Thus, the government decided to move all international flights (with the exception of those to Uruguay) to Ezeiza Airport from 2019. An expansion of the runway was completed during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in order to accommodate wide-body aircraft, such as the

Airbus A330 The Airbus A330 is a wide-body airliner developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus began developing larger A300 derivatives in the mid–1970s, giving rise to the A330 twinjet as well as the Airbus A340 quadjet, and launched both designs along ...

. In a push to connect tourists with domestic flights at the airport, the government allowed international flights to recommence.

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

Accidents and incidents

Aeroparque Jorge Newbery is involved in many incidents from 1959 to 2025. Some of the crashes including LAPA Flight 3142 was one of the deadliest aviation accidents in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

's history * On 11 January 1957, LADE Vickers Viking T-11 crashed on take-off. All 35 occupants perished. * On 30 June 1961, Transcontinental S.A. C-46 Commando LV-FTO crashed on landing approach. Of 35 occupants, 24 died. * On 17 December 1969, Austral Líneas Aéreas C-46 Commando LV-GEB lost engine 1 due to fuel exhaustion shortly after takeoff. The plane failed to gain height and made a crash landing in a small sport field. * On 11 May 1975,

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a retired British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. T ...

CX-AQO of PLUNA was damaged beyond economic repair when it departed the runway. * On 7 May 1981, Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 901, a BAC 1-11, crashed on approach after a flight from Tucumán. All 31 passengers and crew were killed. * On 24 February 1999, Aerolíneas Argentinas MD-88 LV-VBY was destroyed by

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

fire. * On 31 August 1999, LAPA Flight 3142, a Boeing 737-200, crashed during takeoff due to pilot error. 63 of the 100 passengers and crew were killed. Two people on the ground were also killed, raising the death toll to 65. * On 19 April 2025, Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight AR-1360, a

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

en route to El Dorado International Airport in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

, decided to return to the airport after the instruments of the first officer went dark. The aircraft entered a hold to burn off fuel before landing safely on runway 13 about four hours after departure.

References

External links