Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Mariscal Sucre International Airport (SEQM/UIO) is the principal gateway to Quito, Ecuador, situated on the Oyambaro plain near Tababela some 18 kilometres east of the city centre. Opened in 2013 to replace the constrained old Quito airport, it sits at a lofty 7,841 feet amid Andean terrain, making it a demanding but rewarding destination for the simulator pilot flying high-altitude approaches into South America.
Mariscal Sucre International Airport serves the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, and is operated under the Corporación Quiport concession. It replaced the original Mariscal Sucre Airport, which had become dangerously hemmed in by the city's mountainous terrain, and today stands as Ecuador's busiest airport, acting as the main hub for Avianca Ecuador and the largest hub for LATAM Ecuador. For a virtual pilot, the field's combination of high elevation, a single long runway and a dramatic Andean setting near Tababela makes it a notable and challenging South American destination.
The airport lies in Tababela parish, Quito Canton, Pichincha Province, Ecuador, on the Oyambaro plain roughly 18 kilometres (11 miles) east of central Quito. It was deliberately relocated away from the city after the old airport, in the northern Chaupicruz district, could no longer be expanded safely within the surrounding mountains. Approach and tower services are provided for arriving and departing traffic, reflecting its status as a major international hub in an area of high terrain.
The airport has a single physical runway, 18/36, measuring 13,448 feet in length with a hard surface. It is lit and equipped with an ILS, and the field elevation is 7,841 feet, making it one of the higher-altitude international airports encountered in flight simulation.
Quito Approach is available on 119.7 MHz, with a secondary approach frequency on 121.2 MHz. ATIS broadcasts on 119.8 MHz, Quito Ground operates on 121.9 MHz, and Quito Tower operates on 118.1 MHz. The runway is equipped with an ILS to support instrument approaches.
The current airport opened on 20 February 2013, replacing the 53-year-old original Mariscal Sucre International Airport, which had operated since 5 August 1960 in the Chaupicruz parish close to Quito's financial centre. That earlier field, sited in the middle of a mountainous city with strong wind currents, could not be expanded to handle larger aircraft or growing traffic and had seen a number of serious incidents, including the 1998 crash of Cubana de Aviación Flight 389, after which a runway safety area was built at the end of runway 17/35. The new airport, built by a private consortium on the Oyambaro plain near Tababela, covers 1,500 hectares, ten times the area of its predecessor, and was inaugurated after a certification test flight in July 2012 that saw Quito's mayor and around 100 passengers fly a short sector from the old airport. The first scheduled arrivals at the new field were a TAME domestic service from Guayaquil and a LAN international service from Lima. The airport was noted as the first five-star airport in the Western Hemisphere as rated by Skytrax, and the site of the old airport is now Quito's Parque Bicentenario.
Mariscal Sucre International Airport now functions as Ecuador's principal international gateway and its busiest airport, serving as the main hub for Avianca Ecuador and the largest hub for LATAM Ecuador, alongside a substantial roster of other passenger carriers and a significant cargo operation handling several hundred thousand metric tons annually. It previously served as the main hub for the former flag carrier TAME before that airline's liquidation in 2020.