Aerolíneas Argentinas and its former sister company Austral Líneas Aéreas operate from two hubs, both located in Buenos Aires: Aeroparque Jorge Newbery and Ministro Pistarini International Airport.

Its narrow-body fleet, used on domestic and regional routes, consists of the Brazilian-made Embraer 190, as well as the Boeing 737-700, -800 and MAX 8, whereas intercontinental and transoceanic services are flown on the wide-body Airbus A330-200.

[14] Soon afterwards, Douglas DC-4s joined the fleet and services were inaugurated to Santiago de Chile, Lima, Santa Cruz, and São Paulo.

[19][nb 2] The Comet had begun commercial jet services in the 1950s, and the carrier once again set the pace among the South American airlines, when Aerolíneas' president A. Cdre.

Juan José Güiraldes persuaded Argentina's President Arturo Frondizi to buy six of them,[9] becoming the first overseas airline in ordering the type.

[35] The incorporation of the Fokker F-28 into the fleet in the mid-1970s, prompted the withdrawal of the last HS-748s, making the company to be the first South American airline in operating an all-jet aircraft park.

[37] Another milestone for the company took place in June 1980, with the first south polar scheduled service, linking Buenos Aires with Hong Kong via Auckland.

However, a state of continuous tension existed over salary differences between both companies that eventually led the Aerolíneas Argentinas' pilots to a three-week-long strike that started on 1 July 1986.

The international network radiated from Buenos Aires and served Asuncion, Auckland, Bogotá, Cape Town, Caracas, Frankfurt, Guayaquil, Hong Kong, La Paz, Lima, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City, Miami, Montevideo, Montreal, New York, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, São Paulo, Santiago, Porto Alegre, and Zürich.

[46] The privatisation of the airline started being considered under the government of Raúl Alfonsín, when SAS was proposed to become a 40% shareholder of the state company.

[54] Late this year[nb 3] a consortium led by Iberia and Austral's owner Cielos del Sur S.A. acquired an 85% stake in Aerolíneas Argentinas for US$130,000,000 (equivalent to $303,178,808 in 2023) in cash, the same amount to be injected within a 10-month period, and a debt-equity exchange worth US$2.01 billion.

Furthermore, a clause enabled the buyer to indebt Aerolíneas Argentinas for the buyout process; this was reflected in the airline's 1991 balance, which included debts worth US$390 million for its own acquisition.

[53] Austral's owner Cielos del Sur S.A. was sold to Iberia in March 1991, further increasing the Spanish flag carrier's stake in the Argentine air market.

[47] Iberia was subsequently obliged by the European Commission to cut its stake in Aerolíneas Argentinas as a condition for receiving state aid.

[62][65] In July 1997, Iberia cut again its stake in Aerolíneas Argentinas from 20% to 10%, while American Airlines's parent company AMR acquired a 10% stake of Aerolineas Argentinas/Austral's major stockholder Interinvest,[66] equivalent to a participation of 8.5% in both Argentine companies,[67] with the commitment of finding investors for Aerolíneas Argentinas.

[71] Furthermore, given that the AMR Corporation did not find purchasers for the company, the SEPI put the control of the airline back into Spanish hands.

To protect the interests of the Argentine national carrier, the government suspended an open skies agreement between Argentina and the United States that would come into force in September 2000.

[nb 4] The list of international destinations served at the time was Asunción, Auckland, Bogotá, Cancún, Caracas, Florianópolis, Lima, Madrid, Mexico City, Miami, Montevideo, New York, Orlando, Paris, Punta del Este, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Santiago, São Paulo, and Sydney; domestic services to Catamarca, Comodoro Rivadavia, Córdoba, Corrientes, Esquel, Iguazú, Jujuy, La Rioja, Mar del Plata, Mendoza, Neuquén, Posadas, Presidencia Roque Sáenz Peña, Resistencia, Rio Gallegos, Río Grande, Rosario, Salta, San Carlos de Bariloche, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Trelew, Tucuman, Ushuaia, and Villa Gesell were also operated.

[58][73] In June 2001, the aftermath began after the airline filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors,[74] and went into administration;[75] the salaries were paid by the Argentine government, instead of using money coming from the SEPI.

[76] The payment of salaries for the upcoming months was suspended, as the mechanics union refused to accept the reorganisation plan raised by the SEPI to keep the company afloat.

[77][78][79] On 6 June,[80] flights to Auckland, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, São Paulo, Sydney and Rio de Janeiro were halted.

[48][81] Owing to a US$15 million debt with the fuel supplier,[82] the suspension of the daily flight to Madrid, which also served Rome and was the last connection with Europe,[83] followed a week later.

[75] Marsans group acquired a 92% stake through its subsidiary Air Comet from the SEPI in late 2001,[84] and committed to inject US$50 million capital with the intention of resuming short– as well as long–haul services.

[102][103] Amid accusations from Marsans[104] and following the disclosure of an agreement,[105][106][107] the Argentine government took the airline back under state control in July 2008, after acquiring 99.4% of the stake for an undisclosed price; the remaining 0.6% continued being owned by the company's employees.

[109] The act renationalizing Aerolíneas Argentinas and its subsidiary Austral Líneas Aéreas was passed by the Chamber of Deputies in August 2008,[110] and became law in September 2008 following the 46–21 vote in the Argentine Senate.

Corporate assets as of 2012 had tripled to over $1.6 billion, as the group's fleet grew from 26 to 63 planes and the average age of same was reduced from 20 years to 7.5.

[4] With the mentoring of Delta Air Lines,[143] the company signed an agreement to begin the process of joining SkyTeam in late November 2010.

[181] In late November 2010, the airline agreed to lease a further ten aircraft of the –700 series from ILFC,[182] which started being delivered in April 2011.

[123] In November 2017, Aerolíneas Argentinas became the first Latin American airline in taking delivery of a Boeing 737 MAX 8; the aircraft flew its first revenue service on the Buenos Aires-Ezeiza–Mendoza route.

As of June 2023, Aviation Safety Network records 47 accidents or incidents for Aerolíneas Argentinas since it started operations in 1950.