Review of Aerolineas Argentinas flight Buenos Aires → Ushuaia in Premium Eco

I was on a trip in South America and I went to Ushuaia, known as the southernmost town on Earth. Some of the most fascinating geographical places such as the Magellan Strait, the Beagle Channel, the Drake Passage or Cape Horn are all in this part of the world.

I stayed at the Hotel Regal Pacific in Buenos Aires: it’s a standard 5* hotel at very reasonable price, only 15 minutes to Aeroparque airport. The ride cost me just $7 by Uber.

Buenos Aires has two main airports. Ministro Pistarini International Airport (EZE) about 22 kms from the city centre is mostly for long-haul flights to Europe, the Middle-East, Central and North America. Aeroparque Jorge Newberry (AEP) is right next to the upmarket neighbourhood of Palermo. It serves around 40 domestic destinations and also 14 regional airports in South America: Ascunción in Paraguay, Bogota in Colombia, Brasília, Curitiba, Florianópolis, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão and São Paulo-Guarulhos in Brazil, Lima in Peru, Montevideo in Urugay, Santa Cruz in Bolivia and Santiago in Chile. There are also two smaller airports in Buenos Aires, El Palomar and San Fernando that serve mostly general aviation.

The Buenos Aires to Ushuaia route is the longest domestic flight in Argentina with a distance of 2,381 kms and an average flight time of 3 hours and 20 minutes. Aerolíneas Argentinas has three to six flights on most days. JetSmart also has flights on most days on this route.

The terminal was built in 1981 and reflects the architectural style of this period.

Check-in is on the ground floor. There was a SkyPriority queue but I had already checked in on-line and I had only hand luggage.

There are many flights.

I went upstairs to departures. Security control was reasonably fast.

I like the view from the terminal.

There are a lot of coffee and pastry shops.

There's no lounge access with premium economy but there's a small lounge next to gate 1. Access is for certain credit card holders and can also be purchased. 

The view from the lounge.

The lounge is not too big and has a small selection of food and drinks. It's worth entering if you have access with your card but don’t pay extra.

Boarding was announced at 09.00 but only started at 09.20. There was quite a big crowd by the gate as the terminal is not very spacious. 

Boarding was by bus. These buses were built most likely in the 80s and were probably not designed for people with luggage.

Here’s the view of our plane, LV-GVE, a B737-800 MAX, built in 2017.

The cabin crew didn't greet the passengers boarding the plane .

Aerolíneas Argentínas offer two classes in their domestic flights: economy and premium economy. Economy is in regular 3-3 configuration. This plane has a two-row premium economy cabin in a 2-2 configuration. Seats are very similar to what's called first class in US domestic flights. 

My seat was very comfortable for a domestic flight (even if it's the longest in Argentina). The seat next to mine was empty. 

The view from my seat before doors were closed.

There are quite a few business jets at AEP.

Austral was a sister airline of Aerolíneas Argentinas until 2020. The planes kept their livery.

Boarding was completed at 09.55. Push-back was at 10.00 for a scheduled departure time of 09.45.

I don't remember having seen a safety demonstration. It sounds so unlikely nowadays that I'm uncertain: did the crew really skipped it? Or was there one but I didn’t see it from the first row? Both seem to be unlikely. But I’m sure I didn’t see any cabin crew members between boarding and until 90 minutes after take-off.

There’s only one runway at AEP. The total length is only 2,700 meters but was only 2,350 meters from our holding position.

We took off at 10.11 from runway 13.

The terminal seen during take-off.

An industrial area near the airport.

River Plate and clouds.

La Plata is the capital city of Buenos Aires Province, about 65 kilometres from AEP.

As mentioned earlier the crew was nowhere to be seen until 90 minutes after departure. They didn’t perform any pre-departure safety checks and didn’t offer any drinks or snacks before or after departure. Then a very simple and cheap cold economy breakfast was handed over without a word. It included a very small fruit salad, a yoghurt, a small industrial cream cheese and a small piece of packaged toast bread. Breakfast was served after 11.30 which is not breakfast time.

The first time the cabin crew talked to me was when they asked: What would you like to drink? There was a choice of soft drinks, water, orange juice, coffee or tea.

The cabin crew disappeared after the meal service.

The rest of the flight went uneventful. There's no in-flight entertainment.

There were nice views over the Beagle Channel as we were approaching Ushuaia Airport.

Ushuaia seen a few minutes before landing.

The terminal building seen moments before touching down.

There was no safety check in the cabin before landing. Bags on the floor in the bulkhead row were left unnoticed.

We landed on runway 07 at 13.12 and were at the gate at 13.16 for a scheduled arrival time of 13.25.

A JetSmart plane at Ushuaia Airport.

The cabin crew didn't say goodbye to the deplaning passengers.

I stayed at Arakur Hotel in Ushuaia. It’s a fantastic hotel that is part of the Leading Hotels of the World. I booked it for a reasonable price.

The hotel is on a hill and has hot water pools with fantastic views of Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel.

Ushuaia is the port of departure for about 90% of all Antarctica cruises.

I rented a car and went to the Tierra del Fuego National Park right next to Ushuaia. This is the end of Road 3. The distance from Buenos Aires is 3079 kms by road. This is the southernmost place I’ve ever been to.

Nature is beautiful here.

I went back to town and had a good fish soup at the local El Viejo Marino restaurant.

Ushuaia is not the most beautiful town on Earth. Tourists come here for the nature around the town or for their Antarctica cruises.

Street art in Ushuaia.

An old shipwreck with a modern cruise ship in the background.

I went on a cruise on Beagle Channel.

Les Eclaireurs lighthouse.

Common guillemots on Isla de los Lobos.

An abandoned building on Islas Bridges.

Ushuaia seen from the Beagle Channel.

I flew back to Buenos Aires after the cruise. The flight was similar although the cabin crew was much better. There were nice views over the Beagle Channel and Lago Fagnano after take-off.

Thank you for reading my flight report. Please feel free to comment.