El Calafate International Airport was opened on 17th November, 2000. Since December 2000, El Calafate has its own airport.
This is a great advantage for tourists had to travel by plane up to Río Gallegos and then take a 4 hours bus on Provincial Road Nº 5 (315 kms) to arrive in Calafate.

This new airport has all the necessary sate-of-the-art technology
and security requirements for an international airport. The runway is 2,550 meters long, which means that large planes can also land there.

In 1997, a small 3rd category airport had been built up in Calafate, but only small planes could land there. It was occasionally used only for regional flights, but not for daily airline flights.

The Province of Santa Cruz Department think that El Calafate will become an important tourism center in South Patagonia. It will help to connect other regions such as El Chaltén and also save tourists' time. Hence, tourists will be able to stay longer and also travel at any time of the year (not until April like before) for the new airport will be open all throughout the year.

The London Supply S.A. company obtained the airport marketing, management and maintenance services bidding for 25 years.
This is a national company that also manages the Ushuaia and Punta del Este International Airports.

This new project, which consisted of the airport building, the control tower, fuel, the control building, the fence, the navigational lights and the air bridge cost $ 8,200,000.

The building is similar to the one in Ushuaia. It was built with stones and aluminum, which is suitable for Patagonian weather. For the present, it can cope with 280 passengers at rush hours and 50,000 per year. But it is planned to enlarge and improve it in the near future.

There is a great expectation that from 2005 onwards 250,000 tourists will come per year. That is why a good deal of rehabilitation is being done in the town. People are now investing on hotels and log cabins and shops up dating and facilities as well improvement is being done. And the Government has already started paving roads.

The new airport in El Calafate is a synonym of progress and its inhabitants are willing to see it grow.