Mariscal Sucre International Airport

Mariscal Sucre International Airport (IATA: UIO, ICAO: SEQM) is an international airport serving Quito, Ecuador. It is the busiest airport in Ecuador. It is located in the Tababela parish, about 18 kilometres (11 mi) east of Quito, and because of its location it is also colloquially known as Tababela Airport. The airport currently serves as the main hub for Avianca Ecuador and the largest hub for LATAM Ecuador. It also served as the main hub for TAME, Ecuador's flag-carrier, before the airline was liquidated by the Ecuadorian government in 2020. The airport opened in February 2013 and replaced the 53-year old airport of the same name. The airport is named after independence leader Antonio José de Sucre. It was the first 5-star airport in the Western Hemisphere as rated by Skytrax. The new Mariscal Sucre Int'l Airport covers 1,500 hectares (3,707 acres) which is ten times larger than the airport it replaced. Location The new Quito International Airport is located on the Oyambaro plain near the town of Tababela, about 18 kilometers (11 mi) east of Quito, Ecuador. The location was chosen in order to expand the capacity of the city's airport. The old airport posed enormous risks because it was located in the middle of a mountainous city with high wind currents. It could no longer be expanded to accommodate larger aircraft or increased air traffic, and had been the scene of numerous incidents and crashes during the latter years of its operation. History Construction began in 2006. A re-negotiation of the financing contract for the airport was signed on 9 August 2010. As part of final certification steps for the airport, Quito's mayor Augusto Barrera and around 100 other passengers left an early morning flight from nearby Mariscal Sucre International Airport on an American Airlines Boeing 757 on July 2, 2012. The inaugural flight allowed officials to test the performance of check-in counters and other systems. The flight lasted nine minutes and the plane was met by a water cannon salute at the new airport. The official inauguration was postponed from October 2012, citing the progress of improvements to various access routes, the holiday season, and other factors. The new airport commenced operations on 20 February 2013 following the closure of the old airport the night before. The first flights scheduled to arrive at the new airport were TAME flight 302 from Guayaquil (domestic), and LAN flight 2590 from Lima, Peru (international). Arrival times were scheduled for 9:00 and 9:30 a.m. respectively. Airlines and destinations Passenger Notes: 1: KLM's flight from Quito to Amsterdam makes a stop in Guayaquil. Cargo According to Corporación Quiport's 2024 Sustainability Report, Mariscal Sucre International Airport handled approximately 364,674 metric tons of cargo during 2024, ranking fifth in air cargo in Latin America and the Caribbean. Approximately 300,943 metric tons of export cargo departed Quito during the year, and approximately 92 percent of export air cargo consisted of flowers, reinforcing the airport's importance within Ecuador's agricultural export economy. Statistics Annual traffic Top destinations See also Transport in Ecuador List of airports in Ecuador Notes References External links New Quito International Airport: Main Information. Quiport Corporation. Retrieved April 12, 2009. Quito Airport Hotel. New Airport: A Door to Development. Corpaq - Quito Airport Corporation. Retrieved April 12, 2009. Paco Moncayo Gallegos, ed. (2008). El nuevo aeropuerto de Quito, documentos para la historia (PDF) (in Spanish). Quito, Ecuador: Alcaldía Metropolitana. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 12, 2008. Wikivoyage: Tababela