Quito airport works with 77 % less passengers than before the pandemic, but activity goes upwards

A year after having resumed the operations that were suspended by the pandemic, Quiport, administrator of the airport, makes an evaluation.

The averageMonthly passengers in this period was 95,985 passengers, that is, 77 % lower than the monthly average registered before the pandemic (418,614 passengers).

According to a Quiport press release, airport administrator,The recovery of the passenger volume has been gradual but constant. In June 2020, 19,664 passengers traveled by the capital airport and by May 2021, a total of 163,082 people used the air terminal.

With regard to connectivity, approximately 80 % of the frequencies with which the airport operated before the pandemic. Of the 17 direct international destinations that were reached from Quito they have resumed 11: Amsterdam, Atlanta, Madrid, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Miami, Mexico City, Panama, San Salvador, Bogotá and Lima.

Similarly, of18 international airlines that flew in 2019, 12 airlines once again operate at Quito airport.

Regarding national traffic seven destinations have been restored within the country, of the nine that existed before the health crisis: Guayaquil, Baltra, San Cristóbal, Cuenca, Manta, Loja and Coca. Three airlines provide the service of national passenger flights.

Quiport recalled that in mid-March 2020, the Emergency Operations Committee of Ecuador determined the cessation of commercial passenger air operations throughout the country due to the pandemic caused by COVID-19.

Despite this,Quito's airport never stopped operating because it remained open to handle repatriation flightsand also air load operations, both export and import. There were more than225 departure repatriation flightsthat allowed to mobilize thousands of passengers who wanted to return home.

The protocols and procedures were verified by representatives of the National COE, as well as by authorities of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation and the municipality of Quito, who agreed to resume commercial passenger operations as of June 1.Angelo Acosta, the highest authority of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation, says it was much easier to make decisions because there were plans and protocols, and worked with a manual and biosafety procedures."Corporation Quiport made all the necessary adjustments and did not skimp in making the changes to adapt to this new reality of aviation. After several meetings and tireless hours of work we managed to have an airport with the necessary conditions to receive passengers."

The president of theAssociation of Airline Representatives in Ecuador (ARLAE), Marco rose, highlights that “the fact that all industry actors have worked together to achieve a prompt reopening of Quito airport, and the country in general, has contributed so that the industry is reactivated in a better way”.