Review of Aerolineas Argentinas flight Buenos Aires El Calafate in Economy

Flight AR1694
Class Economy
Seat 06F
Aircraft Boeing 737-800
Flight time 03:20
Take-off 06 Dec 13, 12:20
Arrival at 06 Dec 13, 15:40
AR   #85 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 52 reviews
ChrisB
By GOLD 674
Published on 13th July 2021

vos sos de patagonia? me chiste?


Flying blue Miles earned with this flight: 426
(before the program changed to a revenue-based model)  Today you would earn 2XP mile status too


Routing


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I checked in just before leaving London the day before and I received my email that I printed.


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These were the good times when you could choose your seats for free!!


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at buenos aires jorge newberry - aeroparque airport


Aeroparque is actually a very old airport, being used as early as 1925 for domestic routes and international destionations to France even with the Aeropostale. This airport is closely linked to french aviation, just like Aerolineas Argentinas and pilot Antoine de Saint Exupery.


The airport is really convenient as it is located in the town centre, at Palermo airport.


I arrived with Air France in B777-200ER from Ministero Pistarini - Ezeiza airport in the morning, after my first long haul flight ever.

The report of this flight is here. 

Once I reclaimed my suitcase I rushed outside to jump into the first taxi that took me to Aeroparque.  There was a lot of traffic jam but I managed to arrive on time. The lady at the counter was super friendly and it took a good 10 min for her to print again my boarding pass and confirm the route.


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The view on two tails: Aerolineas Argentinas and Lan, in front of the very active and busy Palermo neighbourhood.


I remember this is where my love for empanadas started!


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Boarding happened very quickly, in both Spanish and English; well with the Argentine spanish which is a different variant than castillano.

Unfortunately the aircraft wasn't parked at the gate but remotely and so we took a transfer bus. 


Aircraft: Boeing 737-81D
Registration: LV-CXT 
Engines: 2x CFM56
Age: now 9 Years but it was 1 year old when I was onboard
Layout: C8 Y162
Observation: leased 


onboard the b737-800


The AvGeek Bit 
Aerolineas Argentinas has drastically grown (57%) since its re-nationalisation -that’s for my friends who believe privatisation is the key to everything :P With the help of Delta and Air France, the airline joined Skyteam in 2012. The airline offers 56 destinations and has carried 18millions last year from both of its hubs- Buenos Aires Aeroparque Jorge Newberry and Ministero Pistarini airport. Aerolineas Argentinas has a fleet of 39 B737s for its domestic and regional flights, and has been receiving B737Max – 5 of them are currently operated with a further 8 on order.


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The seats were clean and confortable, equiped with thick armrest and adjustable headrest with a pitch above average with 32in in between seats in economy.

The crew seemed nice as they were smiling at multiple occasions. After push back we had the regular announce by the captain the safety procedures explained manually by the crew.  


We were taxiing for a very very short time - litterally 2 min to reach runway 13.


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Take off happened from there and offered a splendid view on palermo, retiro and the micro centro.


First service happened once the seat belts were off, yes first service as there will be 3 in total! It was a coffee or water, served in this plastic cup and a box with orange juice, alfajor biscuits and a small pack of nuts.
Sorry for the quality of the picture by the way. The rest of them are fine but I am not sure what happened with my zoom.


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We flew over the pampa regions…



Reached Rio Negro.. One good thing that I appreciated is that the captain was making regular announces on what province we were flying over..


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And over the Neuquen region, where the second service happened.



and finally we entered the Patagonia region with the third and last service, this time without food but just refreshments.



As you can tell it was getting cold up there!


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The magazine review time! So Aerolineas offered a very thick book, with a really comprehensive section on their destination of the month: New York..


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And we started our descent over this just amazing views…


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Look at these chains of mountains


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and the colour of this lake… incredible!


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and the shapes of the clouds.. I am still very much absorbed by this landscape.


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It looks like some caribean waters right?


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at el calafate airport


Landing happened very smoothly. 


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We desembarked using the jetway and went downstairs to wait for our luggages.


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What a beautiful region


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And some horse ridding of course!


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And for the stamp collection!


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Verdict

Aerolineas Argentinas

7.8/10
Cabin8.0
Cabin crew8.0
Entertainment/wifi6.0
Meal/catering9.0

Buenos Aires - AEP

7.8/10
Efficiency7.0
Access9.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness7.5

El Calafate - FTE

8.0/10
Efficiency9.0
Access8.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness8.0

Conclusion

My first flight with Aerolineas Argentinas that impressed me on a few aspects:
The plane and cabin were new
The crew smiling and friendly, and very patient with my spanish "from spain".
Not less than 3 services offered - a very few european carriers offer the same level

AEP: an airport as big as Marseille Provence and as close as London City Airport

FTE: airport clean, and well designed - however there should be more transfert capacities : just a few taxis and bus lines.

Information on the route Buenos Aires (AEP) El Calafate (FTE)

3 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 576066 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
    Hey Chris, what a scenic flight! Patagonia has been on my bucket list for a while and this makes me want to go even more. I have to wait a few years until my son is a bit older, though so he can properly enjoy it as well. Thanks for sharing!
    p.s. les conclusions de plusieurs de tes FRs sont en français--faudrait les traduire en anglais, merci! 😉
    • Comment 576076 by
      ChrisB GOLD AUTHOR 3391 Comments
      Hey Kevin thanks for the comment much appreciated as always!
      Yes Patagonia and Argentina in general are something to experience. Stunning landscape, really warm people, good food and wine... what else? :p
      Having flown with both Aerolineas Argentinas and Latam, i definitely recommed the former.

      Oui c'est pas un oubli, c'est un peu fait expres je voulais un peu cibler les 2 publics, j'ai echange quelques emails avec Stephan et j'ai bien modifie.

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