The new airport in Quito will open on February 20th!

January 17,2013

Gulliver Expeditions, tour operator from Quito, Ecuador, announces that the opening of the new airport in Quito now will be on February 20th.

The new airport in Quito will open on February 20th!

Gulliver Expeditions, tour operator from Quito, Ecuador, announces that the opening of the new airport in Quito now will be on February 20th.

After 52 years of service, the current International Airport of Quito, Mariscal Sucre switches off his lights and closes permanently on February. Due to its location in the middle of a city surrounded by mountains, the current airport cannot be expanded to accommodate larger aircraft or an increasing number of passengers. Ecuador receives over one million tourists every year and tourism is increasing by 2-3% per year. The new airport has a capacity for 5.000.000 passengers in the first phase instead of 3.660.000 passengers in the old one. It also counts with 60 airline counters instead of 35. The new airport opens now in February instead of in October because highway building problems which should give people the opportunity to connect quickly with the city center.

The new airport is about 10 times larger than the old one and is located about 18km east of Quito. This will increase the taxi journey to the center of Quito to about 50 minutes, the price for this will cost $25 or you can take a shuttle bus for about $10-15. Quito is still constructing new highways to connect the new airport from the rural airport to the city center. As an advantage of the new location of the airport is mention that it is located at only 2.400 meters above sea level instead of 2.800 meters, so that passengers won't find altitude sickness such a problem. Also the new airport will be capable of serving larger aircrafts which are often used on longer international routes, an advantage for tourism, and one of the modernst airports in whole South America. Furthermore due to the lower location it is not necessary that the planes carry all the fuel from Guayaquil because now it is possible to fill their tanks directly in Quito. With the new airport also roses can be transported non-stop till Europe. The grounds of the old airport will be turned into a convention center and an expansive city park.

In July, the first airplane from American Airlines with 100 passengers on board landed at the new airport and showed that all systems are working and the airport can open on February 20th. Because of the transportation problems between the new airport and the center of Quito the airport could not be opened earlier.

Gulliver Expeditions, established in 2005, specializes in climbing, hiking, biking and horseback riding tours and operates such adventures from its Cotopaxi hacienda, Hosteria PapaGayo. Gulliver also offers cultural excursions to places of interest such as Quilotoa and Otavalo, as well as jungle adventures, expeditions Ecuador, VIP tailor made programmes throughout Ecuador and of course, once in a lifetime Galapagos cruises and land tours.

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