International Airports

Mariscal Sucre International Airport

Tababela
Ph. (593-2) 395-4200 / 4300

The New Quito International Airport is located in the Tababela parish, about 20 km (12.4 miles) east of Quito. The location, at 2400 meters of altitude, was chosen in order to expand the capacity of the city’s airport. The new terminal started operating on February 20th, 2013.

Quito's new airport has technical and security infrastructure for higher capacity aircraft carriers and allows aircrafts to take off at full capacity of passengers, cargo and fuel, in order to reach more distant destinations without stopovers (this wasn’t possible before). This has brought to Quito new frequencies and direct flights to U.S. and Europe.

Reaching the airport can take you from 40 to 120 minutes, depending on your location and traffic conditions, so bear this in mind and plan for a 2-hour drive to the airport.

Two routes are available from Quito: the first is the Collas route, which gets off the Panamerican Highway or E35, north of the city; and the second is via the Interoceánica Avenue (E28), passing Cumbayá and Tumbaco, and then taking a left just before Pifo, at the street light. If you are south of Quito, you can take the Simón Bolívar Avenue to connect to the Interoceánica. All routes have clear signs along the way.

The means of transportation to get to and from the airport are:

  • Public transportation: Bus lines (with several stops) departing from Rio Coca terminal and from Quitumbe terminal, $2.

  • AeroServicios: Shuttle buses between the old airport and the new one, without stops and business services included, departures every 30 minutes 24/7, ticket price is $8 per way, tickets can be purchased online and also at booths of both airports. During air traffic peak hours, two or three shuttles may operate within the hour.

  • Tourism buses and vans

  • Private vehicles

  • Taxis: To ensure that taxi service for the new Tababela airport runs smoothly and to prevent abuse, the Ministry of Transportation has established fixed rates to and from different parts of the city, so that users and drivers both know the official fare. Taxis operating from the new airport will offer their service through a ticket-purchase system with set rates depending on the passenger’s destination.

There has been an airport tax increase for the new facilities which has to be paid for tickets issued before February 20th, directly at the airport. This increase is $8.17 for domestic routes and $15.06 for international routes.

José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport

Av. de las Américas & Isidro Ayora, Guayaquil
Ph. (593-4) 216-9000

José Joaquín de Olmedo Airport, formerly known as Simón Bolívar, is located 5 km from the downtown. In 2011 it was chosen by Skytrax as the best airport in South America.

In the check-in area for domestic and international flights you can find ATMs, exchange offices, post offices, restaurants, pharmacies and gift shops.

The pre-boarding areas are equipped with free Wi-Fi, restaurants, and VIP lounges.

The facilities are adapted to the needs of the disabled. The parking lot is close to the main terminal.

There are several hotels nearby that offer transfers to and from the airport to passengers that have a reservation at the hotel.

The international departure tax is US$28.27 which is included in all international tickets.