# El Calafate - Commander Armando Tola International Airport (FTE)

> El Calafate, AR · IATA: FTE · Medium Airport

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| IATA | `FTE` |
| City | El Calafate |
| Country | AR |
| Type | Medium Airport |
| Elevation | 204 m |
| Cargo | ❌ |
| GPS | -50.28030, -72.05310 |

## Description

Opened in 2000 to absorb the visitor flow to the Perito Moreno glacier and Los Glaciares National Park, El Calafate's Comandante Armando Tola Airport (FTE) is a strongly seasonal tourism field in Santa Cruz whose freight is limited entirely to belly loads. September 2026 brought 204 commercial flights, just over six a day and slightly fewer than the 224 of September 2025. Aerolíneas Argentinas, JetSMART and LADE serve Buenos Aires and Ushuaia, with Córdoba, Bariloche and Trelew added through the spring; for the 2026/27 southern summer, GOL starts São Paulo-Guarulhos service on 26 November 2026 and SKY connects Santiago de Chile. There is no dedicated cargo terminal, no freighter operation and no separate international customs post for goods traffic, so consignments travel in the holds of passenger aircraft and are capped by narrow-body dimensions. Commercial air freight for southern Patagonia is therefore consolidated at Buenos Aires-Ezeiza (EZE), with Río Gallegos (RGL) around 300 kilometres to the south-east as the nearest larger alternative. For volume shipments, the road via National Route 40 or Route 3 remains the usual answer.

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*Freight Academy — Airport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/el-calafate-commander-armando-tola-international-airport-fte](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/el-calafate-commander-armando-tola-international-airport-fte)*

*Markdown mirror: [https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/el-calafate-commander-armando-tola-international-airport-fte](https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/el-calafate-commander-armando-tola-international-airport-fte)*

*LLM-Summary (JSON): https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/airports/el-calafate-commander-armando-tola-international-airport-fte/llm-summary*