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San Carlos de Bariloche Airport, also known as Teniente Luis Candelaria Airport, is an international gateway serving the Patagonian resort city of San Carlos de Bariloche in Río Negro Province, Argentina. Set in the foothills of the Andes at nearly 2,750 feet, it is a busy regional hub handling domestic and seasonal international airline traffic, and offers a long, ILS-equipped hard-surfaced runway that makes it a notable destination for simulator pilots exploring mountainous South American flying.
San Carlos de Bariloche Airport (ICAO: SAZS, IATA: BRC) is the international airport for the city of San Carlos de Bariloche in Río Negro Province, Argentina, operated by Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 S.A. It lies close to the Andes and Patagonia's lake district, making it a striking destination for VFR and IFR flying alike, with mountainous terrain surrounding the approach paths. The airport is a significant regional and seasonal international hub, which for the sim pilot means a lively traffic environment with a proper control tower service and instrument approach facilities.
The airport sits on Ruta Nacional Nº 237, roughly 13 kilometres from the city centre of San Carlos de Bariloche, in terrain characteristic of the eastern Andean foothills. It is served by an active tower and approach frequency, indicating controlled airspace around the field befitting an international airport handling scheduled and seasonal airline traffic from across Argentina, Brazil and Chile.
The airport has a single physical runway, 11/29, surfaced with a hard surface and lit along its length. Runway 11 is 7,684 feet long, while runway 29 is 7,683 feet long and is equipped with an ILS, giving instrument-approach capability from that direction. The runway's considerable length reflects the field's role as an international airport for mid-size jet operations as well as general aviation traffic.
Bariloche's aeronautical frequencies are: ATIS on 127.9 MHz, a radio (RDO) frequency of 122.3 MHz under the callsign BARILOCHE RDO, and BARILOCHE TWR/APP on 119.1 MHz, which provides both tower and approach control services. Runway 29 is served by an ILS, supporting instrument approaches into the field, particularly useful given the surrounding mountainous terrain.
The airport, also known as Teniente Luis Candelaria Airport after the aviator it is named for, has long served as the principal air gateway to San Carlos de Bariloche and Argentina's northern Patagonian lake district. It occupies a large site of some 1,810 hectares and has grown a substantial terminal to handle its role as an international airport. The field's history has been marked by several serious accidents linked to the mountainous terrain around Bariloche: in 1957 a LADE Vickers Viking flew into terrain 30 kilometres out from the airport; in 1975 a LADE Fokker F27 struck a mountain 35 kilometres west of the city while inbound from El Palomar, with 52 fatalities; in 1977 an Austral Líneas Aéreas BAC 1-11 crashed into mountainous terrain on final approach 21 kilometres east of the city, killing 46 of the 79 on board; and in 1989 a LADE Fokker F28 overran the runway on take-off and was arrested by a dike, a non-fatal hull-loss. These events underline the terrain awareness required when operating in and out of Bariloche, a consideration equally relevant to simulator pilots flying realistic approaches to the field.
San Carlos de Bariloche Airport continues to operate as an active international airport, handling scheduled services from Aerolíneas Argentinas, Flybondi, JetSmart Argentina, LADE and seasonal international flights from carriers including Azul Brazilian Airlines, Gol, LATAM Brasil, LATAM Chile and Sky Airline, alongside general aviation movements. It remains under Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 S.A. management and provides full tower and approach radio services together with ILS-supported approaches, making it well represented for VFR and IFR flying in a flight simulator environment set against the Patagonian Andes.