Quito - Mitad del Mundo International Airport

Quito - Mitad del Mundo International Airport is an airport, located at Quito, Ecuador. Visit their website www.aeropuertoquito.com for more detailed information.

Mariscal Sucre International Airport is the busiest airport in Ecuador and one of the busiest airports in South America. It is located in the Tababela parish, about 18km 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.LocationThe new Quito International Airport is located on the Oyambaro plain near the town of Tababela, about 18km 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.HistoryConstruction began in 2006. A re-negotiation of the financing contract for the airport was signed on 9 August 2010.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.