Ecuador: Quito Airport recovered more than 86% of passenger movement

Mariscal Sucre International Airport, which serves the capital city of Ecuador, recorded more than 4.3 million passengers transported on domestic and international flights during 2022. Thus, compared to 2019 traffic, which was more than 5 million passengers, the recovery is 86.4%.

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According to the concessionaire, Corporación Quiport, by 2023 it expects to reach 2019 passenger traffic. Ramón Miró, president and CEO of Corporación Quiport, the company responsible for the management and development of Mariscal Sucre International Airport, assured that «in 2023 we will have important news for the city’s connectivity. The pandemic hit air transport very hard, but it forced a rethinking of the sector and opened up very important opportunities that we are currently exploring and realizing.»

Currently, 15 passenger airlines connect Quito directly with 14 international destinations and 8 destinations within Ecuador, making the city the best connected in the country by air:

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National (direct flights).

• Aeroregional: Coca (OCC), Loja (LOH) and Santa Rosa (ETR).
• Avianca: Cuenca (CUE), Guayaquil (GYE), Baltra Islands (GPS) and Manta (MEC).
• Avioandes by Cartavia and Adventure Air: Esmeraldas (EMS) and Lago Agrio (LGQ).
• Equair: Guayaquil (GYE).
• LATAM: Coca (OCC), Cuenca (CUE), Guayaquil (GYE), Loja (LOH) and Manta (MEC).

The biggest impact on the Ecuadorian domestic market was the disappearance of TAME, which in its heyday was Ecuador’s largest carrier. During 2022, the remaining companies were covering the capacity lost by the state-owned company.

Avianca inaugurated flights to Cuenca; LATAM to Loja and Coca and Aeroregional to Santa Roca and Loja. However, two new players were added to the market: at the beginning of 2022, Equair began operations connecting Quito with Guayaquil and Guayaquil to the Galapagos Islands.

In addition, the charter company Avioandes partnered with Cartavia and Adventure Air to offer flights to Esmeraldas and Lago Agrio, respectively.

International

• Aeromexico: Mexico City (MEX).
• Aeroregional (charter): Cartagena (CTG), Panama City (PTY) and Punta Cana (PUJ).
• Air Europa: Madrid (MAD).
• American Airlines: Miami (MIA).
• Arajet: Santo Domingo (SDQ).
• Avianca: Bogotá (BOG), Buenos Aires/Ezeiza (EZE), San Salvador (SAL) and San José (SJO) in Costa Rica.
• Copa Airlines: Panama City/Tocumen (PTY).
• Equair (charter): Curaçao (CUR) and Punta Cana (PUJ).
• Delta Air Lines: Atlanta (ATL).
• Iberia: Madrid (MAD).
• jetBlue: Fort Lauderdale (FLL).
• KLM: Amsterdam (AMS).
• LATAM: Bogota (BOG), Lima (LIM) and Miami (MIA).
• United: Houston (IAH).
• Wingo: Bogota (BOG).

By 2023, Avianca will add two new destinations: Cartagena (CTG) and Medellín (MDE). Equair is also expected to launch its first scheduled international flights.

Cargo terminal

In terms of cargo, the 2022 figures are even more encouraging. Between January and December, 290.677 metric tons of cargo were transported, setting an all-time record for Mariscal Sucre Airport. Of this volume, 239,109 metric tons corresponded to export cargo, also a record in that category.

When comparing the 2022 cargo figures with those of 2019, we evidence that there has been a 19.4% growth in total cargo transported, while in export cargo the growth is 17.9%.

«Cargo has become one of our main strengths and we already rank among the airports in Latin America and the Caribbean with the highest cargo handling volume. In this area, the joint work we are developing with national and local government authorities, and with the private sector, is also key in an area in which we have a broad horizon for growth,» concluded Mr. Miró.

Among the cargo operators operating in Quito are: Air Canada Cargo, Avianca Cargo, Cargolux, Ethiopian Airlines Cargo, Emirates Skycargo, DHL Aero Expreso, Kalitta Air, KLM Cargo, LATAM Cargo, masair cargo, Qatar Airways Cargo, Turkish Airlines Cargo and UPS Airlines.