Argentina - EZE: Quilombo Total! Parte dos. The worsening.

It just gets worse!

I arrived on UA847 from Washington DC this morning. Given the hour-long wait I experienced last month to get through immigration, I exited the aircraft and made my way to the immigration hall as fast as I could. But to no avail. I was stuck behind European passengers that had also just arrived.

There were 2 agents processing US/Australia/Canada, and only 1 (ONE) processing all other non-mercosur foreigners for the first 45 minutes I waited in line. A second agent then started to process arrivals. Even crew members had to wait 30 minutes to enter the country. It took me an hour to clear immigration, and by that time there were more arrivals backing up behind me.

Just between 8:30 and 12:00 noon today there were widebody flights from Rome, Sao Paulo, Frankfurt, Paris, Dallas, Madrid, Santiago (x2), Houston, Bahia, New York, Washington DC, and Mexico City arriving at Terminal A. The BA flight from London was thankfully delayed.

Luggage was of course already waiting on the conveyers, but it was difficult to maneuver around the passengers that were waiting in lines that were spilling over into the baggage claim area, to get their luggage screened by customs . Even crew members were having their luggage X-rayed. And not a spare baggage cart to be had. They were mostly outside the terminal …

So if anyone is connecting to another flight at AEP, you'll probably need to have a connection time of a least 4 hours.

Glad my next arrival is a late afternoon one. I think I'll also continue to arrive near-3 hours before departures and be bored instead of paranoid. (Late October was the first time that a LAN rep actually told me to go through tramites right away and not wait because of how bad the lines had been.)

Ezeiza should be demolished and they need to build a new proper airport..... :mad:

Ezeiza should be demolished and they need to build a new proper airport..... :mad:

Yes I think you're right.

I find it okay but luckily it's usually been quiet when I've been there. I can imagine it's not much fun when it's busy.

Ezeiza should be demolished and they need to build a new proper airport..... :mad:

instead of a better/larger airport maybe better staffing.

instead of a better/larger airport maybe better staffing.

You can staff it until the end of time. It won't help much. It is an overstuffed dump.

You can staff it until the end of time. It won't help much. It is an overstuffed dump.

Indeed. The Ezeiza design and masterplan is decades old. In reality, Ezeiza is a poor location for a large international airport. The best idea out there was an artificial island but Im afraid this nation doesnt have the $$$$ needed to finance that... :eek:

Considering that customs and immigration have seemingly been purposefully understaffed for the past month, I wonder if this isn't some ploy for upcoming wage negotiations.

It's not as if it's a surprise that there is an international flight docking every 15 minutes at Terminal A during the morning arrival bank. And of course loads are heavy coming into the holiday/summer travel season.

Particularly telling was the fact that airline crew were forced to wait while a single agent dealt with pregnant/handicapped/priority passengers. Also crew with only hand luggage are usually waved through customs, but everyone was being screened. The "green light" lane was also not being utilized for randomly exempted passengers from X-ray screening when the customs area gets overloaded.

John

Lovely- I'm arriving again tomorrow morning. We'll see how it is...

Lovely- I'm arriving again tomorrow morning. We'll see how it is...

Please do report back once you get home... :)

Go figure...

After reading the previous posts, I was mentally prepared for the worst.

I arrived at 8am this morning. There was no waiting at all at immigration, with lots of windows open. After retrieving my luggage, I went to customs, where all lanes were open, and all of 5 people were in line. I put my bags on the xray machine, and even with a new 24" LED monitor in my suitcase, they didn't slow me down or ask questions.

The whole process from exiting the plane to standing outside on the sidewalk was 30 minutes, and most of that was waiting for the bags to come out on the carousel.

I guess its kinda like the weather here. If you dont like it, just wait a few hours and it will change.

I guess its kinda like the weather here. If you dont like it, just wait a few hours and it will change.

8 AM is before the worst of it. Did you fly in on LAN via LIM?

Nope- came in from ATL on DL.

FYI, this is sometimes a very busy time to arrive- not sure why its inconsistent. Delays on other airlines, perhaps, or maybe depends which day of the week for those flights that aren't daily.

What is the situation like for evening arrivals? My flight on AA from MIA will be arriving at around 9:50PM. Also, what is the last trip on MTL going to downtown?

What is the situation like for evening arrivals? My flight on AA from MIA will be arriving at around 9:50PM. Also, what is the last trip on MTL going to downtown?

Check here...

http://www.tiendaleon.com.ar/home/home.asp

For English, click on the British flag.... ^