Argentina’s airports are enjoying bumper growth as new route opportunities open up amid liberalised bilateral deals. Graham Dunn reports
A string of airports in Argentina set new records during a bumper year for air traffic in the country, in part driven by the opening up of air service agreements in key markets.
Argentina enjoyed the highest rate of passenger traffic growth in the region last year at 13.2%, traffic data from the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) showed. That included an 18% jump in international traffic.
National airports operator Aeropuertos Argentina said passenger numbers across its 35 airports, together with two others it manages, climbed 12% to 47.4 million last year.
Domestic passengers increased 10%, accounting for around two-thirds of the traffic at 31.6 million. Passengers on international routes were 17% higher last year at 15.8 million.
“We have had incredible growth in 2025. This was a year that left the pre-pandemic numbers behind,” said Nina Mulhall Teriaszwili, Traffic and Route Development Manager at Aeropuertos Argentina. The same airports handled 41 million passengers in 2019 before the pandemic hit.
“This year we are already looking for 15% year-over-year growth,” she added.
One of the key drivers of growth has been the revision of a number of bilateral agreements to enable additional services, including key markets in which airlines wanted to grow like Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Peru.
“If you look at the frequencies we had in January 2023 and the frequencies in 2026 – we were able to have 270 extra weekly frequencies because these bilateral agreements were revised,” Teriaszwili said, adding: “What was done has set the route development soil for the next 100 years.”
Teriaszwili also pointed to the importance of economic stability in supporting expansion. “Airlines need stability. So we need a business case that allows them stability,” she said.
Almost 30 million passengers were handled last year across Buenos Aires’ two airports, Aeroparque Jorge Newbery and international gateway Ezeiza. Aeroparque enjoyed particularly strong growth, surpassing its previous high in 2023 by 14% with 17. 8 million passengers handled last year.
Notably, however, growth was evident across airports in the country. Aeropuertos Argentina said new monthly traffic records were set at nine of its airports in 2025.
Teriaszwili sees plenty of scope for more growth beyond the capital. “What we are really trying to do for airlines is to help them enhance connectivity in Argentina,” she said, pointing to the wide range of tourism opportunities within the country.
And she cites particularly strong growth at Cordoba, Argentina’s third-largest airport in 2025 with 3.3 million passengers.
“Cordoba, mainly for outbound [demand], has really exploded and it will probably be the main [airport] responsible for the growth of the whole system,” Teriaszwili said.
