Fog in Buenos Aires: flight diversions and delays to continue throughout the week

It is no surprise that airports in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires collapse in the presence of fog banks and haze in every autumn/winter season. But not since the beginning of the pandemic have diversions, cancellations, and delays at Argentina’s three most important airports been as massive as this week.

On June 6, the visibility at the Ministro Pistarini International Airport in Ezeiza deteriorated after midnight, with minimum visibility reaching 30 to 50 meters. Monday morning the situation did not improve, extending the complications until noon.

More than a dozen international flights were diverted to Montevideo (MVD) and Cordoba (COR), to the point of not having enough places to attend all the diversions, adding Mar del Plata (MDQ), Mendoza (MDZ) and Rosario (ROS) in Argentina, Santiago de Chile (SCL) and Sao Paulo (GRU) in Brazil as other alternates.

See also: A Boeing 747-300 ex-Mahan Air landed in Córdoba

Low visibility problems also affected San Fernando, although it operated on a limited basis. Aeroparque began to deteriorate at 11am, causing delays of 2 to 4 hours in arrivals and takeoffs.

The situation at Jorge Newbery Airport worsened during most of the day, with minimums of 100 to 50 meters and causing more than 30 diversions.

Unexpected diversions 

Two Lufthansa Boeing 747-8i aircraft were diverted to Montevideo, as one had been parked in the Uruguayan capital since the day before.

On the other hand, Cordoba received for the first time the Airbus A350-900 of ITA Airways and a Boeing 747-300M ex-Mahan Air of Emtrasur; Taravella airport had not received a jumbo for 7 years when Aerolineas Argentinas and Atlas Air used it as an alternate at the time.

See also: Cordoba airport received ITA Airways’ Airbus A350 for the first time

Low visibility due to fog will continue for the rest of the week, according to the National Weather Service. As of Thursday, June 9, a wind from the south will come in, which will eliminate the morning fog.

Airports and airlines are advising passengers to keep an eye on their flight schedules over the next few days as conditions change rapidly.

A decades-long problem

According to a report presented in 2021 by the National Meteorological Service, for airports in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area fog and haze banks are a major problem, due to their geographical location.

Ezeiza has an average of 46 days with visibilities of less than 1,000 meters in the last decade, being in worse conditions than New York or London airports that have between 25 and 30 days with low visibility.

Ezeiza International Airport is registered for operations at a minimum decision height of less than 30 m (100 ft) or without decision height limitation and RVR of not less than 175 meters since it has a category IIIA instrument landing system.

In this case, landing is performed with autopilot and will depend on the operation of the airport’s approach systems and the capacity of the pilots and aircraft.

While Aeroparque Jorge Newbery can operate with a minimum decision height of less than 60 m (200 ft), but not less than 30 m (100 ft) and RVR (Runway Visual Range) not less than three hundred meters.

List of flights diverted between June 5th – currently

This list will be updated throughout the week.

Aeroparque

Buenos Aires/Ezeiza