Piloto Civil Norberto Fernández International Airport — Rio Gallegos, Argentina

Piloto Civil Norberto Fernandez International Airport, which operates under the code RGL, serves Rio Gallegos, the capital of Argentina's Santa Cruz province near the country's windswept southern Atlantic coast. Before a dedicated airport opened at El Calafate to serve the glaciers of Los Glaciares National Park, RGL functioned as the principal air and overland gateway for travelers heading toward that famous ice-field region, and it still serves as a useful alternate and cargo point today. Sheep ranching has long anchored the local economy across Santa Cruz's open Patagonian steppe, and RGL supports that trade alongside oil and gas activity in the surrounding province. Fierce, persistent winds off the South Atlantic shape flight operations much as they do elsewhere in Patagonia, requiring pilots accustomed to demanding crosswind landings. Aerolineas Argentinas provides the bulk of scheduled service, linking Rio Gallegos to Buenos Aires and other Patagonian towns.