Welcome to my trip report on Jetsmart Argentina!
Photo: Gonzalo E. Salas
Introduction
I have flown on Jetsmart Chile and this is Jetsmart Argentina which is a subsidiary and from what I know the airline is doing quite well financially. The choices on which airlines I should fly on the return flight from USH to EZE, it was between LATAM and Jetsmart. Flying back with Flybondi was also another option but in the end, I decided on Jetsmart Argentina which is considered another airline to me and also for the different registration of the aircraft. The aircraft I flew before, CC-AWA is based in Chile and would not operate on my Argentinean flight and since I am flying on a different aircraft which means another animal tail livery aircraft added to my flight logbook. Lastly, I can compare if there is any difference between the parent airline and it's subsidiary.
About Jetsmart's different tail liveries
Indigo partners, LLC is the American private company has a controlling stake of this airline, along with Frontier, these special tail liveries were introduced to showcase the different types of animals for these two airlines. For Jetsmart's case, the endangered South American wildlife are being showcase with different animals on each aircraft making it an eye-opener for everyone especially the aviation enthusiasts. This means, the more aircraft delivered, more animal tail liveries for us and that makes planespotting even more interesting. The photo below shows the list of tail liveries out so far and I believe there are more to come. Have you flown with Jetsmart? If you do fly one next time, do check out the tail livery of your aircraft.
Photo: Jetsmart
Do you recognise any of these animals?
CC-AWA (Peregrine Falcon livery)
Photo: DAD ( Baires Aviation Photography)
LV-KFX (Condor Andino livery)
Photo: Christian Mendal
Fleet of Jetsmart Argentina
The airline is currently operating 10 Airbus A320ceo, 1 Airbus A320neo and 6 Airbus A321neo and these aircraft can be interchanged with the fleet of Jetsmart Chile. Some of the aircraft in the fleet are Chilean registered aircraft. (December 2025 update)
Booking
Booking and managing this airline's website had been a nightmare for me. I wasn't able to book direct with the airline so I used Trip.com to do so. Once I booked with Trip.com, I did the rest myself. To access the website, I need to use the VPN to connect to one of these countries, Chile, Argentina or Brazil otherwise, without it, I received error message or forbidden to access the page, why like that? Once I managed to access it, it took me a lot of attempts to be able to manage my booking, I have to do so occasionally to check that the booking is still valid since the email to this booking is connected directly to Trip.com
Fortunately for me, during the web check-in period, I was able to manage my booking without issue but as I chose the cheapest option, seat selection was not free. It's better to pay for the seat then to wait until after the web check-in is completed before you decided to pay because when I did just that, I was not able to select the seat but luckily I managed to get that sorted out at the airport. I did attempt to seek help from the airline's facebook team but unfortunately they acknowledged my request but didn't get back to me.
Comparing this experience to my previous in 2023, this was definitely a more stressful experience. Sometimes stress can increase one's anxiety level and that is not fun especially you are looking forward to the trip.
Do note: For mobile check in for Jetsmart flights (both domestic and international flights, you can do so within 72 hours.
The mobile website actually has a nice platform.
Even during the check-in process, the seats are not complimentary, instead they assigned you to a seat and for this case, I was given a middle seat. I didn't pay for the seat hoping to be lucky enough to be assigned a window seat.
Random seat assignment is at no cost but if you want to change your seat, it is better to turn up early at the check-in kiosk and request for a seat change.
By the end of the check-in process, I had to make sure or at least try get a window seat at the airport and hoping the flight was not full. Not a pleasant web check-in experience, that's for sure.
Photos of my time at Ushuaia
This is the view of the mountains during my Uber ride to my accommodation. The driver was kind enough to stop halfway to allow me to snap some photos of these.
The neighbourhood near my accommodation.
I can certainly wake up every morning and appreciate the mountain view.
Another view of the city with the mountain background.
Some low clouds were hoovering around the mountain.
The temperature was perfect for me, it was around 10 degrees celcius (50 degrees F) when I was there.
Beautiful, isn't it?
More information of this city, coming up in my City Guide (Travelling Adventures Blog).
On the departure day
I checked which aircraft was flying me back to Buenos Aires and it was LV-KFX.
It took me about 15 minutes to reach the front desk.
I had no issue with the check-in and the ground staff was able to grant my wish by changing my seat to a window seat.
The supermarket receipt paper style boarding pass. If you have a luggage to check-in, the airline will issue this recipt for you, there is no need to purchase the $7 (US) fee for the airline to print out your boarding pass.
I went out of the airport to snap some photos such as this one.
Fortunately for me, the weather was great as the past few days had been raining and overcast throughout the day.
About Ushuaia Airport
This is the Malvinas Argentinas International Airport opened in 1995 and is a home to Aerolineas Argentinas, Flybondi, LATAM, Jetsmart Argentina and GOL Airlines (Seasonal flight - coming up in July 2026) and operates with one terminal and on runway (07/25). The airport can operated up to the size of a Boeing 747-400 but for most days, the biggest aircraft that fly into this airport is the Boeing 787 of LATAM.
This airport has a definite unique design.
I am glad to be able to tick this airport off my list.
Airside (Departure Hall)
During the time of departure, it was about 3/4 full with 3 flights departing in the evening.
There are plenty of seating area with charging ports available at selected seats. Airport WiFi is available.
I settled down here for a while.
The view of the landside.
That's how small the terminal building is.
There are a couple of shops including a souvenir shop located at the airside.
You can pass through the right land to get to the other gates (gate 4 to 6).
There are a couple of cafes available at the airside.
An overpriced cheese and ham sandwich.
A bottle of water
LV-KEF flew me to USH and then LV-KFX was flying me back to EZE. What are the odds of spotting these 2 aircraft in a photo?
Another 40 minutes more to go before arrival.
LATAM Boeing 787-8 was flying to Santiago, SCL while this Aerolineas Argentinas 737 MAX 8 was preparing for the flight back to EZE.
This is CC-BBB, LATAM's Boeing 787-8.
I did a check on my flight status, our flight was slightly delayed due to the late arrival.
One last look of the terminal before I went off to my assigned gate.
The aircraft was finally landing.
This is Aerolineas Argentinas Boeing 737-800 which had just arrived.
This way to my assigned gate 5.
A lot of vacant seats as most of the passengers were already queueing up.
In this terminal, there are only a few spots that allow plane photography.
My ride was being prepared for departure. The turnaround was quite quick.
The long queue of fellow passengers in front of me.
LV-KFX
Time to board
Almost there
Welcome on board Jetsmart Argentina's A320!
My ride: LV-KFX (Photo: Fernando Ariel Torre)
This is the Condor Andino livery
Airbus A320-232 with winglets
Ex Jetsmart Chile aircraft (CC-AWD)
Seats: Y186
Engines: 2 X IAE V2527
Delivered to Jetsmart Argentina in Sept 2022
Age: 8 years old (Dec 2025)
Built in Hamburg (XFW)
Flight Route: USH-EZE
Miles: 1,460
Average Flight Time: 3 hours
Airlines Flying On This Route: Flybondi, LATAM and Jetsmart
My seat: 9F
Date of departure: 6th December 2025
Airline: Jetsmart
Aircraft: Airbus A320ceo
Registration: CC-KFX
Route: USH-EZE
Flight: JA3202
Seat: 23E changed to 9F
Gate: 6
Load: 70%
Flight Time: 2 hours 50 minutes
Actual Flight Time: 2 hours 54 minutes
Schedule Departure: 1848
Boarding: 1844
Push Back: 1909
Take Off: 1920
Schedule Arrival: 2218
Actual Arrival: 2213
Departure Runway: 25
Departure Weather: Windy
Arrival Runway: 11
Arrival Weather: Partially Cloudy
My inflight experience
The late arrival of the aircraft means the boarding process took place later than it should, about 4 minutes before departure time. The cabin was the same as the one I experienced 2 years ago with this airline (Jetsmart Chile). Later on I found out that this was ex CC-CWD, the aircraft transferred over by the parent airline. The cabin crew on board were friendly and more importantly English were also used in the flight announcement. What is strange is the aisle seat was vacant but the seat mate sitting besides me didn't move and I was hoping she does so so that for me at least I can enjoy more legroom space. I did hint to her a few times to move but I eventually gave up. The vacant aisle seat was wasted and why she doesn't want to move remains a mystery.
Although taking off late, all those who sat on the right side got to witness the beautiful view of the city with spectacular evening light topping the icing. Just like my previous flight, I watched a couple of shows and enjoyed this mostly smooth ride towards Buenos Aires. These flights (EZE to USH and USH to EZE) are certainly some of the most memorable routes I have done and I certainly recommend Ushuaia to visit if you are in Argentina. If you are a non spanish speaker, don't worry about the language issue, with the help of the translation app and a bit of sign language, I had no issue getting around. Only thing is the food and drinks might be a pricy (not as bad as the capital city). As for the inflight service, it is similar to Flybondi, it offers BOB (Buy on board) service and there is no restriction on eating outside food for both airlines.
During the flight, the Captain came out of the cockpit and went to the back cabin and not long after one of the crew made an announcement in Spanish and everyone started clapping, I wondered why. I discovered later on that this cabin crew is the Captain's girlfriend and his proposal to marry her was successful. After the flight ended. I thanked him for the flight but didn't say anything else because I wasn't 100% sure at that time. It was only when I was walking with another passenger while on the way to the arrival hall then I know about it.
Despite our late arrival, the pilots managed to catch up on loss time and we landed with a few minutes to spare. It was a pleasant flight but would have been better if my seat mate would have moved to the vacant aisle seat. Well, it is what it is!
Welcome on board, Jetsmart's Argentina A320ceo!
The A320 cabin overhead compartment
This middle seat should have stayed vacant!
This seat back consists of the tray table and the coat hook.
The seat is reasonably comfortable for this 3 hours flight.
My seat: 9F (Good position for window view photos - check below)
View from the middle seat (Seat 9E)
There is a QR code to check out the inflight menu
View of the cabin (after landing)
The legroom space is around 30 inches.
There is no extra legroom space for the front rows.
I am not a fan of this brownish colour of the seat.
More photos of the seat
Front view from my seat
Tight legroom space for a 6 foot 4 person like myself.
The size of the tray table can hold a standard size laptop or tablet.
View of the cabin during the flight
Photo was taken when my seat mate went to use the lavatory.
My source of entertainment? My phone with downloaded movies.
This is my 2nd trip report with Jetsmart, the cabin experience is identical as this, you can check out that trip report over here.
Window view photos
This Aerolineas Argentinas aircraft was heading to the other Buenos Aires airport (AEP).
Pushing back in this beautiful weather.
The terminal can cope with a maximum of 2 large size aircraft (1 Boeing 747 and 1 A340-300), 2 medium size aircraft (A320 and B737) and 1 small size aircraft (F28).
What a beautiful view of the mountain.
We couldn't take off from this direction due to the direction of the wind. Aircraft needs to take off against the wind direction as it gives them more lift at a lower ground speed that means the aircraft is able to lift off earlier and also less engine wear and tear since the engine do not require full or high thrust in order to lift off.
The taxi to the otherside of the runway took less than 3 minutes.
Near the end of the runway, there is a roundabout for the aircraft to make a 180 degrees turn.
Making the 180 degrees turn at this point.
We are cleared for take off!
Thanks to the ground staff for giving me this seat, because I get to enjoy spectacular view like the photos below.
V1.... rotate..
At this point time, I was snapping non stop and so are a few others.
This has to be one of my favourite photos for this trip.
Ushuaia city is small and is quite walkable especially in good weather like this.
Flying past some mountains.
Spotted some mountains but unfortunately some clouds were covering part of them.
The clouds do blend in well in these photos.
There were little bumps along the way but nothing bad.
Flying over a thick layer of clouds
By the time we reached Buenos Aires, it was dark.
After this turn, we were on final approach.
We touched down ahead of schedule with the reverse thrust deployed.
We parked at a remote parking lot.
My Flight Summary
A good view of LV-KFX
This is Jetsmart's Airbus A321neo featuring the Humboldt Penguin livery.
One thing smart about this airline is the attractive livery.
We were parked at the remote parking lot and the buses came and fetched us to the terminal.
Back at EZE Airport, this is the domestic luggage carousel.
After collecting the luggage, we walked through this passageway.
Here we are, the arrival hall.
From here, I called for Uber to take me to the apartment.
The UBER waiting area is located at the outer land just outside the arrival hall, you can cross the pedestrian crossing to access it.
One last look at the terminal before I left.
That's all folks!
My ratings
Airline Website/Mobile App: 1/5
Check-in Experience (USH): 5/5
Inflight Service: 4/5
Seat Comfort: 3/5
Inflight Entertainment: 0/5
Cabin Ambiance: 4/5
Seat Condition: 4/5
Cleanliness: 5/5
InFlight Meal/Beverage: 0/5
Punctuality: 5/5
Overall Rating: 31/50
Percentage: 62%
Website's issues
The airline's weakness is the problematic website which has make the check-in and manage the booking process a pretty tough time and stressful too. Booking outside of the countries that this airline operates seem to prove problamtic as I encountered 'permission denied' issues to access this website and its only with the help of VPN only then I can access to it. I use chrome as my internet browser and for most times, I couldn't find my booking and only then when I used the safari chrome on my tablet then I can access it with the security photos where you need to the correct pictures to match the description - that's ridiculous right? It's only during the check-in period, I could access my booking on both browsers. As I booked this trip through a 3rd party, seat selection was not included. After doing the web check-in, the airline assigned me to a middle seat, I was hoping by checkin in early (72 hours before the flight), I would get a good window seat, but that's not the case over here. So I thought, just pay for it but this option was not available - strange. Usually other airlines will still offer seat selection even after check-in is done (do take note), so this was new to me. The whole experience was frustration for me and yes, I tried contacting the airline's Facebook team for help but they didn't respond even though they acknowledged my message. Whatever it is, I am glad I managed to get the seat issue sorted out at the gate.
Hopefully the airline can work on to improve the website especially for foreigners.
Conclusion
While the website has a lot to be desired, the on-ground and inflight experience was much better and the seat 9F is a blessing because of the spectacular view with the engine and wing view (my favourite), also thanks to mother nature for the good weather.
For the seat, it was not uncomfortable but the legroom space you know on a low-cost carrier can be quite tight including this cabin configuration. For this flight, it was really wasted because I could have enjoyed some extra legroom space, thanks to the seat mate! So for those with a seatmate (stranger) sitting either by the aisle or window side, and you are sitting in a middle seat and have an empty seat besides you, do consider moving to the vacant seat so that both you and the seat mate can enjoy more space.
As for the airline's inflight service, it was not bad at all with the friendly crew and the announcements were made in both English and Spanish and this is important because no one will feel left out.
So between Flybondi and Jetsmart, which airline do I prefer?
This is a tough call because both have their pros and cons but let me break this down.
Website: Flybondi
On Ground Service: Jetsmart
Seat Comfort: Jetsmart
Inflight Service: Flybondi (Just a bit better)
Overall: Draw
So when choosing one of these airlines if LATAM's airfare is too expensive, both are good airlines and you can't go wrong with either, what I would recommend is look at the flight timing and choose the one that suits you best and then try booking it. If Jetsmart's website gives you problem, go with Flybondi.
Hope you find this information useful.
Have a good one
Charles
For my previous trip report with Flybondi (EZE to USH), click here
Next trip report: Discovering LATAM's new economy and business class cabin products, coming up soon!
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