# El Calafate - Commander Armando Tola International Airport (FTE / SAWC) **El Calafate - Commander Armando Tola International Airport** (IATA: FTE, ICAO: SAWC) is a medium airport in El Calafate, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. It opened in 2000. It has one runway, 2,550 m (8,366 ft) long, concrete. In 2025 it handled 893 thousand passengers. Web page: https://dromopedia.com/airports/sawc ## At a glance - IATA / ICAO: FTE / SAWC - Type: Medium airport - Serves: El Calafate, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina - Opened: 2000 - Elevation: 204 m / 669 ft - Coordinates: -50.2803, -72.0534 - Runways: 1 - Longest runway: 2,550 m / 8,366 ft - Passengers: 893,188 (2025) - Time zone: UTC-3 · America/Argentina/Rio_Gallegos - Website: https://aeropuertoelcalafate.com/ - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comandante_Armando_Tola_International_Airport (14 languages) - Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1655986 - Weather station: SAWC - Ident: SAWC ## Timeline - 2000: El Calafate - Commander Armando Tola International Airport opens. ## Runways | Ident | Length | Width | Surface | True headings | Lighted | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 7/25 | 2,550 m / 8,366 ft | 45 m / 148 ft | Concrete | 085° / 265° | yes | ## Passengers per year | Year | Passengers | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | 2014 | 530,270 | Wikidata | | 2015 | 625,938 | Wikidata | | 2016 | 620,969 | Wikidata | | 2017 | 602,898 | Wikidata | | 2018 | 597,982 | Wikidata | | 2019 | 676,193 | ANAC Argentina | | 2020 | 230,158 | ANAC Argentina | | 2021 | 328,770 | ANAC Argentina | | 2022 | 722,921 | ANAC Argentina | | 2023 | 897,077 | ANAC Argentina | | 2024 | 901,854 | ANAC Argentina | | 2025 | 893,188 | ANAC Argentina | ## Routes 8 destinations in 3 countries. From the airport's Wikipedia article. ### Year-round (6) - [RGL](https://dromopedia.com/airports/sawg.md) Piloto Civil Norberto Fernández International Airport · Argentina · 242 km / 150 mi · Líneas Aéreas del Estado (LADE) - [RGA](https://dromopedia.com/airports/sawe.md) Gobernador Ramón Trejo Noel International Airport · Argentina · 488 km / 303 mi · Líneas Aéreas del Estado (LADE) - [USH](https://dromopedia.com/airports/sawh.md) Ushuaia - Malvinas Argentinas International Airport · Argentina · 567 km / 352 mi · Líneas Aéreas del Estado (LADE) - [CRD](https://dromopedia.com/airports/savc.md) General Enrique Mosconi International Airport · Argentina · 605 km / 376 mi · Líneas Aéreas del Estado (LADE) - [EZE](https://dromopedia.com/airports/saez.md) Ezeiza International Airport - Ministro Pistarini · Argentina · 2,038 km / 1,266 mi · JetSmart Argentina - [AEP](https://dromopedia.com/airports/sabe.md) Aeroparque Jorge Newbery · Argentina · 2,068 km / 1,285 mi · JetSmart Argentina ### Seasonal (2) - [SCL](https://dromopedia.com/airports/scel.md) Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport · Chile · 1,881 km / 1,169 mi · Sky Airline - [GRU](https://dromopedia.com/airports/sbgr.md) São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governor André Franco Montoro International Airport · Brazil · 3,715 km / 2,308 mi · Gol Transportes Aéreos ## Airlines The figure is how many destinations each airline flies from FTE, as the routes above have them. Hubs from Wikidata. ### Passenger (4) - 5U [Líneas Aéreas del Estado (LADE)](https://dromopedia.com/airlines/lineas-aereas-del-estado-lade) · 4 - WJ [JetSmart Argentina](https://dromopedia.com/airlines/jetsmart-argentina) · 2 - G3 [Gol Transportes Aéreos](https://dromopedia.com/airlines/gol-transportes-aereos) · 1 · seasonal - H2 [Sky Airline](https://dromopedia.com/airlines/sky-airline) · 1 · seasonal ## Rankings Ranked among 48,075 open airports; = marks a shared place. | Measure | Value | World | Region | Country | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Passengers | 893K (2025) | #871 of 3,974 | #70 in South America | #10 in AR | | Longest runway | 2,550 m / 8,366 ft | =2,202 of 29,858 | =123 in South America | =23 in AR | | Elevation | 204 m / 669 ft | =24,026 of 43,403 | =5,436 in South America | #241 in AR | | Age | Opened 2000 | =11,262 of 15,079 | =145 in South America | #19 in AR | | Runways | 1 | =4,364 of 29,978 | =181 in South America | =95 in AR | ## Radio frequencies | Type | Description | MHz | | --- | --- | --- | | APP | APP/TWR | 119.950 | | GND | GND | 121.800 | ## Nearby airports - [AR-0717](https://dromopedia.com/airports/ar-0717.md) Estancia Río Bote Airport · 23 km / 14 mi - [AR-0718](https://dromopedia.com/airports/ar-0718.md) Gendarme Barreto West Airport · 72 km / 45 mi - [AR-0719](https://dromopedia.com/airports/ar-0719.md) Gendarme Barreto Airport · 82 km / 51 mi - [AR-0715](https://dromopedia.com/airports/ar-0715.md) Estancia Tapi Aike Airport · 87 km / 54 mi - [AR-0496](https://dromopedia.com/airports/ar-0496.md) Aeroclub de El Chaltén Alf. G.N.A. Walter Omar D Anna · 89 km / 56 mi - [AR-0716](https://dromopedia.com/airports/ar-0716.md) Fuentes de Coyle Airport · 93 km / 58 mi ## Sources - [ANAC Argentina](https://datos.transporte.gob.ar/dataset/aterrizajes-y-despegues-procesados-por-la-administracion-nacional-de-aviacion-civil-anac): Argentina: ANAC, Aterrizajes y despegues (CC BY 4.0) (CC BY 4.0) - [NOAA Aviation Weather Center](https://aviationweather.gov/data/api/): Weather data: NOAA Aviation Weather Center (Public Domain (US Government)) - [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/data/): Airport data from OurAirports (Public Domain) - [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org): Structured data from Wikidata (CC0 1.0) - [Wikipedia: “Comandante Armando Tola International Airport”](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Comandante_Armando_Tola_International_Airport&oldid=1374340957), revision of 11 Sep 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0) - [timezone-boundary-builder](https://github.com/evansiroky/timezone-boundary-builder): Time zone boundaries © OpenStreetMap contributors, timezone-boundary-builder (ODbL 1.0) - Every figure with its source: https://dromopedia.com/airports/sawc/data