Piloto Civil Norberto Fernández International Airport (SAWG)

Piloto Civil Norberto Fernández International Airport at a glance

Piloto Civil Norberto Fernández International Airport is a large airport in Rio Gallegos, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, known to airline systems as RGL. The field elevation of 61 ft (19 m) is the number every arriving pilot dials against QNH — circuit heights and initial approach altitudes at SAWG are all figured from it. The airport handles scheduled commercial service, so expect controlled procedures, published approaches and commercial traffic in the pattern.

The single runway, 7/25, offers 11,644 ft (3549 m) of con surface, with runway lighting for night operations. Runway numbers give magnetic orientation: runway 7 points roughly 70° magnetic.

For the weather side of planning, the live METAR and TAF page for SAWG shows the current observation decoded line by line — wind on an instrument dial, visibility, cloud layers and the resulting flight rules — refreshed continuously from official sources.

Flight-planning notes for Piloto Civil Norberto Fernández International Airport

Density altitude is the quiet performance-killer at any field: on a hot day the 61 ft field elevation of Piloto Civil Norberto Fernández International Airport can translate into a substantially higher density altitude, stretching take-off rolls and flattening climb rates — run the numbers rather than trusting the feel of a standard day. Expect published instrument procedures, controlled airspace and clearance requirements; slots and handling may apply to general aviation traffic.

This entry is one of 73 airports and airfields we list for Argentina — the country index on the airports hub links the rest. Coordinates above are given in both DMS and decimal degrees so they can go straight into a GPS, a flight planner or a chart plot without conversion.

Where this data comes from

The reference layer behind this page builds on the OurAirports dataset — a public-domain, community-maintained register of the world's airports that many flight planners and apps rely on — with equity records preserved from documented historical listings where the dataset is silent. Figures are carried as published: elevations as surveyed, coordinates as filed, runway dimensions as recorded. Nothing is estimated to fill a gap, and the whole layer regenerates from source on every site build, so corrections upstream arrive here automatically.