Ports

Buenos Aires Runway Work Triggers Airfreight Capacity Crunch

Buenos Aires' Ezeiza Airport will narrow its primary runway from 3,300 meters to 1,850 meters from October 25 to November 11 as part of a $100 million infrastructure upgrade to secondary runway 17-35. The shorter main strip will prevent widebody aircraft from departing at maximum payload. Lufthansa cancelled Frankfurt service while Swiss suspended Zurich flights. American, Delta, United, Air Canada, Turkish Airlines, Emirates, Air France-KLM, British Airways, Ethiopian, and China Eastern are not selling Buenos Aires service during this period. Aerolineas Argentines and Iberia have rerouted services through Rio and Montevideo with technical stops to manage fuel constraints. The timing coincides with carriers' shift from transatlantic to Latin American winter schedules. Forwarders report seeking alternative routing options.