page_title: Quito
section_title: Air transportation
hierarchical_section_title: Quito / Transportation / Air transportation
caption_attribution_description: English: Mariscal Sucre Airport
context_page_description: Quito is the capital of Ecuador, the country's most populous city, and at an elevation of 2,850 metres above sea level, it is the second highest official capital city in the world, and the closest to the equator. It is located in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains.
  In 2008, the city was designated as the headquarters of the Union of South American Nations.
  The historic centre of Quito is one of the largest, least-altered and best-preserved in the Americas. Quito and Kraków, Poland, were the first World Cultural Heritage Sites declared by UNESCO, in 1978. The central square of Quito is located about 25 kilometres south of the equator; the city itself extends to within about 1 kilometre of zero latitude. A monument and museum marking the general location of the equator is known locally as la mitad del mundo, to avoid confusion, as the word Ecuador is Spanish for equator.
context_section_description: The Mariscal Sucre International Airport serves as the city's principal airport for passenger travel and freight. The airport is located 18 kilometres (11 mi) east of the city's centre in the Tababela parish. It began operations on February 20, 2013, replacing the Old Mariscal Sucre International Airport located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of the city centre within city limits. The old airport was replaced due to tall buildings and nighttime fog that made landing from the south difficult. The old airport has become a metropolitan park.
caption: Mariscal Sucre International Airport
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