The Buenos Aires international airport, Ministro Pistarini International Airport, is located in the suburb of Ezeiza and is often called simply "Ezeiza". The Aeroparque Jorge Newbery airport, located in the Palermo district next to the riverbank, serves mostly domestic traffic and general aviation.

A bus from Ezeiza International Airport to a centrally located square (Plaza San Martín) is about $20. Manuel Tienda León (Av. Santa F e 790; +54-11/4315-8115 or toll free 0800-777-0078; www.tiendaleon.com.ar) and Agencia Ecuador (Suárez 408; +54-11/4302-2481) are the main transport companies. Hired cars cost about 30 ARS. Taxis are plentiful and hungry for your business, running approximately 50 ARS per car. Be sure you pick one with a meter or agree on a fare before hand.

Colectivos (buses) offer an economical service. There are about 150 bus lines, which are numbered, linking all the neighborhoods. A trip costs $0.75 or $0.80, depending on the distance traveled. Coins are necessary, since all buses have ticket machines -- no bills accepted. Main lines to downtown are 2, 5, 7, 10, 12, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 33, 45, 50, 59, 60, 64, 91, 93, 105, 111, 126, 130, 132, 142, 146 and 155. Note: Traffic jams are common during rush hours.

Each bus service is managed by an individual company which makes them very effective as they compete with each other and attracts exceptionally high use with virtually no public financial support, their frequency makes them equal to the underground systems of other cities, but on wheels, however, buses cover a far wider area than the underground system. Colectivos in Buenos Aires do not have a fixed timetable, but run from 4 to several per hour, depending on the bus line and time of the day. With very cheap tickets and extensive routes, usually no further than four blocks from commuters' residences, the colectivo is by far the preferred mode of transport around the city.

BA has five subway lines (www.metrovias.com.ar), identified with capital letters: A, B, C, D and E. The subway is known as Subte, which comes from subterráneo. This is the quickest way to get around Buenos Aires. All lines link downtown with main areas: Constitución, Retiro, Almagro, Boedo, Chacarita, Villa Crespo, Caballito, Parque Chacabuco, Palermo, Belgrano, Flores, Villa Soldati y Villa Lugano. Running hours are from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday to Friday and from 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. A ticket costs $0.70. You can also buy a 10-journey Subtepass and save some cents.

The B line was extended and two new stations were opened in August 2003: Tronador and Los Incas stations. Now the Villa Urquiza area is connected with downtown. This area is ideal for enjoying beautiful small chateaux. A new H line is being built, which will be ready by mid-2004 and will connect north areas (Recoleta and Retiro) with south areas such as Parque Patricios, Barracas and Once.

Metro entrance on Avenida de Mayo

The Line D runs from the city centre district to the northern neighborhoods of Palermo and BelgranoThe Buenos Aires Metro (locally known as subte, from "subterráneo" meaning underground or metro) is a high yield system providing access to various parts of the city. Opened in 1913, it is the oldest underground system in the Southern Hemisphere and in the Spanish-speaking world. The system has six lines, named by letters (A to E, and H) There are 74 stations, and 52.3 km (32 mi) of track. An expansion program is underway to extend existing lines into the outer neighborhoods and add a new north-south line. Track length is expected to reach 89 km (55 mi) by the year 2011.

Recently inaugurated underground station

Callao Station on Line BDaily ridership is 1.3 million and on the increase. Fares are cheap and are in fact cheaper than the city buses. While tokens have been used in the past, at present, riders purchase either single-use or multi-use cards (called SubtePass) with a magnetic strip or use Contactless cards called SubteCard which can be rechargeable with cash or linked to a bank account for automatic debit.

The Buenos Aires Metro has six lines which also has links to the metropolitan train network.

• Line A - Light Blue: Subte Line A is the oldest line of the Buenos Aires Metro. This historical line runs from Plaza de Mayo to Primera Junta, and is scheduled to be extended towards Nazca St.
  
• Line B - Red: Line B of the Buenos Aires Metro runs from Leandro N. Alem Station to Los Incas (projected to Villa Urquiza).
  
• Line C - Blue: The Line C of the Buenos Aires Metro runs from Retiro to Constitución terminus, opened on 9 November 1934, 4.4 km.
  
• Line D - Green: Subte Line D of the Buenos Aires Metro runs from Catedral to Congreso de Tucumán. The D Line opened on 3 June 1937 and has been expanded to the north several times. The line is currently 10.41 km long and runs approximately parallel to the Buenos Aires coastline.
  
• Line E - Purple: Subte Line E runs from Bolivar Station to Plaza de los Virreyes, opened on 20 June 1944, currently with 9.2 km.
  
• Line H - Yellow: Line H runs from Once terminus to Caseros. It is also planned to run from Retiro to Nueva Pompeya once the remaining sections are constructed.

Buenos Aires' famous black and yellow taxis, which are hired by hailing them in the street when the red Libre sign is illuminated. Taxi meters start at $1.12 and $0.80 (cents) are added for each 200m traveled. You can get a taxi anywhere in the city or phone "radio-taxi" companies, which are safer. Some reliable companies:

• Del Sol Remises (Arcos 3751; +54-11/4702-8070 or 4730-5200) is a gay-friendly company headquartered in the Belgrano area.
  
• Taxi ya: +54-11/4953-4206 or 4952-5601.
  
• Taxi x tel: +54-11/4381-2800 or 4384-0400.
  
• Radio Taxi Siglo XXI: +54-11/4633-4000.