Mariscal Sucre International Airport

Mariscal Sucre International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional Mariscal Sucre
IATA: UIO ICAO: SEQM
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Quiport,[1] CORPAQ[2]
Serves	Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador
Location	Tababela, Quito Canton
Hub for	Avianca Ecuador LATAM Ecuador TAME
Focus city for	Avianca
Elevation AMSL	2,400 m / 7,874 ft
Coordinates	0°06′48″S 78°21′31″W / 0.1133°S 78.3586°W / -0.1133; -78.3586Coordinates: 0°06′48″S 78°21′31″W / 0.1133°S 78.3586°W / -0.1133; -78.3586
Website	www.aeropuertoquito.com www.aeropuertoquito.aero
Map
UIO Location of airport in Ecuador
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 18/36 4,100 13,451 Pavement

Mariscal Sucre International Airport^[3] (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional Mariscal Sucre) (IATA: UIO, ICAO: SEQM) is the busiest airport in Ecuador and one of the busiest airports in South America. It is located in the Tababela parish, about 18 kilometres (11 mi)^[4] east of Quito and serves as the largest hub of TAME, the flag carrier of Ecuador, with an average of over 220 weekly flights. It opened in February 2013 and replaced the old Mariscal Sucre International Airport.^[5]

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 due to its location in a residential area of the city's northern sector.

History

Check-in and departures area

Arrivals area

Departures screen

TAME Embraer 190

View from the international terminal

Construction began in 2006.^[6] A re-negotiation of the financing contract for the airport was signed on 9 August 2010.^[7]

At about 6:19 a.m. on July 2, 2012, an American Airlines Boeing 757 landed at the new airport with about 100 passengers on board. The flight was used to obtain the operating certificate for track tests. It also allowed testing of the performance of the electronics mounted for handling and transporting luggage and check-in counters for passengers and baggage. The aircraft departed from the existing Mariscal Sucre International Airport with Quito's Mayor, Augusto Barrera, local authorities, aviation staff, and the media to pre-test boarding procedures at 5:30 a.m., later taking off at about 6:10 a.m. After a 9-minute flight, the flight landed at the new Airport. After landing and subsequent taxiing through taxiway 1 of the new airport, the airplane was greeted with a water cannon salute from two fire trucks.

Subsequently, visitors toured the facilities of the passenger terminal building and the north and south ends of the runway. After the tour, Mayor Barrera and authorities gave a press conference. There, the Mayor also stated that the airport would be ready at its inauguration, as well as enhancements to the E-35, and Interoceanic highways. "This is a day of joy and optimism for the city. At this point all you get joining goodwill," the official said adding that the social energy that the city should serve to build and make things.

Mayor Barrera also stated that this airport will be a remarkable leap in economic development of the city of Quito and that the strategic alliance allows Quiport achieved with the resources generated by the new airport will be for all the people of Quito. "We are checking with the facts that transformation we're doing for the Quito we crave" he said. The mayor also reported that when the Mariscal Sucre Airport closes, construction of a new park will begin at the current site, and within days the bidding will begin for the 1st phase of the planned Quito Metro, as well as for the construction of a new bridge over the Chiche river.

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.^[8]

Airlines and destinations

Iberia Airbus A340-600 aircraft on its inaugural flight to Quito - Mariscal Sucre International Airport from Barajas on the 28th of October, 2013. Was the first transatlantic flight of the airport linked to Europe, celebrated with the traditional water cannon salute.

Passenger

Notes:

• ¹: KLM's flight from Quito to Amsterdam makes a stop in Guayaquil.

Cargo

Cargo apron, 2013

Statistics

Annual traffic

Top destinations

Busiest international routes (roundtrip) out of Mariscal Sucre International Airport (2013)

Rank	City	Passengers	Top carriers	% Change
1	Miami, United States	498,646	American Airlines, LATAM	30.12%
2	Bogotá, Colombia	472,392	Avianca Ecuador, Copa Airlines Colombia, TAME	28.14%
3	Madrid, Spain	200,622	Iberia	22.02%
4	Lima, Peru	100,424	Avianca Ecuador, Avianca Perú, LATAM, TAME	19.47%
5	Amsterdam, Netherlands	89,773	KLM	46.69%
6	Medellín, Colombia	75,207	LATAM	10.99%
7	Buenos Aires, Argentina	69,525	LATAM, TAME	9.87%
8	Panama City, Panama	68,056	Copa Airlines, TAME	9.1%
9	Mexico City, Mexico	58,200	Aeroméxico
10	San Salvador, El Salvador	54,267	TACA Airlines	4.52%

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. 
• Wikivoyage: Tababela