Airport Aeroparque Jorge Newbery (AEP/SABE) serves the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires and is located in the center of the city, facilitating the life of its users. It is mainly used for national and international regional flights such as for Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. It has a single track of 2100 meters receiving a daily average of 180 landings and takeoffs.The main airlines operating here are Aerolineas Argentinas, Latam, Austral, Andes, Norwegian, as well as other smaller ones, and the Brazilian Gol, with flights coming from São Paulo. Around 13,8 million passengers passed through the facilities in 2018.

Speaking of spotting, the moments of most movements is in the morning and in the late afternoon. On weekends the tendency is a decrease of the movements so its better to visit it on a week day. Here you will see a lot the beautiful paintings of Aerolineas Argentinas (Boeing 737-800), which is undoubtedly the undisputed leader of this airport. The newcomer Norwegian has grown here making the first low-cost flights and plans for accelerated growth in the next few years. A constant presence is also from Austral, a subsidiary of AA, which operates exclusively the Embraer 190.

Photographing here is very easy and you can do this in various places around the airport, which is surrounded by busy streets. The authorities are very tolerant about the practice of spotting, We were not uncomfortable in any of the times we stayed at the fences of the airport. The places seemed very safe and we did not hear reports of violence here.

A lot of interesting information for the visitor can you find here.

Written by Ediney Ribeiro, Fabian Juergens, Gerrit Griem and Maximilian Kramer (@Flymaxiair). Last change: September 2024 – General update

Rating
Movements
Airline Variety
Photo Locations
Weather
Airport Information
Runways
13/31	2.100  m (6.890 ft)
Terminals	Single Terminal for all operations
Spotting Information
Ladder	Not really needed but better at spots 2 and 5.
Car/Public Transport	Car is not really needed as you can easily walk from the terminal to all locations.
Restrooms	You are mostly close to the terminal so you can go there.
Drinks/Food	Spot 4 is a restaurant and is a good spotting opportunity. At all other spots there are small snack bars where you can buy food and drinks, at spot 3 you will be inside the terminal.
Hotels	There are several hotels nearby to stay, but not for the practice of spotting.
Season	The best time in our opinion is from November to May, but throughout the year it is possible to practice spotting
Security	The sites seemed safe to us and there were no reports of insecurity
Runway Usage
13/31	Single lane, with head 13 being the most used throughout the day for landings

	Spot #1 – San Benito Park – 13 Arrivals
WHERE	Northwest of the airport is a park called “Paseo de las Americas”. Just north of the San Benito park is a footbridge (see the map). The easiest way to get there from the airport is to take a cab or use uber but there are also some bus stations. Parking is available directly at the park.
WHAT	Arrivals on runway 13 only.
TIME	Only two or three hours before sunset.
MISC.	Next to the park are restaurants. Some homeless people hide their stuff in bushes.
FOCAL LENGTH	100-300mm 200mm = A320

AEP-Spot1

	Spot #2 – Av Costanera Nte. Rafael Obligado WEST – 13 Movements
WHERE	This is one of the main spotting locations of this airport on opposite site of a park/marina and along “Av Costanera Rafael Obligado”. By foot/car is best to start at the airport and walk along the bay to the spot. There are some parking lots along the “Av Costanera Rafael Obligado” otherwise park at the airport terminal. Walk from there is no longer than 15 minutes and pretty easy to find. You can stay all along of the airport fence and taking pictures from your prefered position.
WHAT	Great for catching the 13 arrivals/touchdowns and even the takeoffs and the nearby taxiway. You can also move away from the fence and go across the street and photograph the plane more side, however there are some disturbing posts.
TIME	From sunrise until 4:30 p.m. the sun is favorable.
MISC.	It is a bit difficult to shoot here because there is mesh between the bars of the fence and you need a 1-2 step ladder or something to climb up the fences while shooting because on top of the fence there is a larger opening between the bars withouth a mesh and you can fit the lens trough. Otherwise you can also use live view. There are no toilets here, but there are small snack bars across the street, where you can buy food and water next to the park/marina.
FOCAL LENGTH	The focal length will vary a lot, but we can say that it will use from 30mm to 300mm, because you can photograph the approaching, sideways and also taxiing on the track.

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	Spot #3 – Terminal
WHERE	This location is inside the terminal at the gate area so you need a valid boarding ticket. The windows are a bit curved and there are reflections, however the view is very good and it is possible to make good records here.
WHAT	All movements on the ramp and taxiway if sight is not blocked by parked aircraft.
TIME	From sunrise until mid afternoon.
MISC.	As you are inside the terminal there is everything you need.
FOCAL LENGTH	50-150mm

AEP-Spot3

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	Spot #4 – Restaurant “El Muelle”
WHERE	The  is located on a pier and offers a roofed terrace without glas on the first floor and some benches and shade in the entrance area at the ground level. Parking lot is in front of the restaurant. Wifi is available to check Flightradar 24 or order a Uber, Cabify later.
WHAT	From the terrace you can see the taxiway movements and line ups rwy 31. Although it might be a bit tricky as you have some light poles to avoid. If you are standing downstairs at the entrance you can see the approach path runway 31 with some skyscrapers as a backdrop.
TIME	Morning till afternoon, at the terrace heat haze could be an issue.
MISC.	The restaurant offers excellent dishes, for Argentinian relations it is fairly expensive. Best to come before 12:30h if you have no reservation. Peak time seems to be between 13:00h and 14:30h. Then you might have to wait a little bit until a table at the terrace becomes available. The staff is really tolerating our hobby and might be interested to see your pictures before you leave.
FOCAL LENGTH	From 70mm to 300 covers everything here.

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	Spot #5 – Av Costanera Nte. Rafael Obligado EAST – 31 Movements
WHERE	This spot is simply located along “Av Costanera Nte. Rafael Obligado” at the airport’s eastern end. You can get here by Uber or bus and then just search your favourite location along the fence here.
WHAT	From here you can spot all 31 movements.
TIME	Sunrise till later noon.
MISC.	There are food/snack carts all along the road here. The trees do spend shadow as well. A ladder would be useful, but is not really welcomed here. Try to shoot with live view over the fence. Arrivals are a bit tough to shoot with live view over the fence though, so therefore you might step back some meters to the park north of the street.
FOCAL LENGTH	24-200mm

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