Inside the (shabby) airport at the end of the world

The airport

Ushuaia Malvinas Argentinas International Airport (USH)

The airport exterior, a reference to the mountains beyond.Credit: iStock

The flight

Aerolineas Argentinas AR1881 from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires (EZE).

The arrival

Surrounding mountains and a location on a peninsula that juts into the Beagle Channel create a stirring impression of this compact airport on the approach, spoiled closer up by the car park that fronts the terminal. The blue-green slope of the pitched roof, which reaches almost to the ground, mimics the blue-grey slope of mountains across the water.

The look

The initial impression is good as you step inside, with the eye immediately drawn upwards to the soaring beamed ceiling that recalls a mountain lodge. On closer inspection, the ageing terminal is tired and grubby, and its spaces getting cramped for the increasing number of visitors, especially those coming and going from Antarctic cruises.

Checking in

You step straight into the check-in area, which has 18 positions shared among various airlines, including the intriguingly named Fly Bondi. The interior is overheated considering most passengers arrive in Antarctic jackets. Wait times are short, but beware the 15-kilogram baggage limit on flights, which sees numerous passengers slapped with excess-baggage charges.

Inside, the ageing terminal is tired and grubby.Credit: iStock

Security

Security and departure gates are on a mezzanine level with windows that look onto the check-in and arrival zones below. With only two scanners and everything from belts to watches having to come off, you might be caught up in a queue, but none too arduous in this modest airport. Once through, you’re into a space with little sense of flow thanks to its several partitions. Still, you can look out at planes being loaded on the apron against a Beagle Channel backdrop.

Food + drink

You’ll want to avoid the airport’s three cloned cafes which barely offer a decent snack, let alone a meal. Expect packaged chocolates and biscuits, wilted pastries, a few sad-looking, white-bread sandwiches and overpriced wine at ARS12,000 ($18) a glass. Soft drinks are a more reasonable ARS3300 ($5) and coffee ARS2300 ($4).

It may be tired and sometimes crowded, but the airport does offer spectacular mountain and Beagle Channel views. Credit: Adobe Stock

Retail therapy

If you’ve left your shopping until now, then your options will be pricey and limited. The entrance level features a small, upmarket store selling leather goods and mate (herbal tea) paraphernalia, a duty free, and a souvenir stall. Once through security, it’s your last chance to buy a penguin T-shirt, penguin soft toy or penguin crystal ornament – though unaccountably, you can buy a pink crystal elephant or toucan too.

Passing time

Cruise companies will have you off expedition ships and at the airport early. You’ll be twiddling your thumbs, especially as the free Wi-Fi is slow: don’t expect to be playing online bridge or watching TikTok videos. You will, though, spend quite a while in the boarding queue, with only one person checking boarding passes, and passengers shuffling forward as slowly as penguins on an ice floe.

The verdict

This airport is small and tired, but does redeem itself by capturing Ushuaia’s frontier spirit thanks to its architecture and mountain outlook.

Our rating out of five

★★

The writer was a guest of Aurora Expeditions.