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In response to multiple requests from users and passengers of the Quito International Airport, Corporación Quiport once more shares the requirements approved by the National COE to enter Ecuador by air:

• Negative PCR test, performed within three days prior to arrival in Ecuador, or
• Negative antigen test, performed within three days prior to arrival in Ecuador, or
• COVID-19 vaccination card or certificate, stating that the doses have been completed.

Children under two years of age are exempt from presenting upon arrival a negative PCR test, rapid antigen test or vaccination card.

Andrew O'Brian, President and CEO of Corporación Quiport ratified the commitment of the Quito airport service concessionaire to the safety and health of its users, employees and passengers and noted that the Quito International Airport is providing all facilities to the Ministry of Public Health so that entry controls to the country are developed in a suitable place, also observing all sanitary protection measures.

“Since August 2020, Quito airport has had the Airports Health Accreditation, certification granted by the Airports Council International (ACI), which verifies that all the sanitary regulations and recommendations issued by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the European Aviation Security Agency and ACI itself are permanently complied with in our air terminal”, explained the chief executive of Quiport.

Quito airport has health prevention and protection equipment and measures for passengers and airport employees, for example:

• Thermal cameras to measure body temperature (entry to the passenger terminal and entry to the international arrival migration area).
• Footbaths for disinfection of footwear and luggage wheels (entrance to the terminal and entrance to the international arrival migration area).
• Protective screens to avoid direct contact between airport personnel and passengers (airline check-in counters, departure and arrival migration counters, airline counters at boarding gates).
• Safety bands for blocking seats in public areas and departure lounges.
• Reduction of pre-boarding lounges to 50% of their capacity.
• Capacity control in stores and restaurants.
• 500 hand sanitizer dispensers located throughout the passenger terminal.
• Floor signage to facilitate the reference of the required social distance.
• Permanent and up to date information on health measures on screens and billboards at the airport.

The National COE resolved on Wednesday, March 17, 2021 the following guidelines for entering the country, which will come into effect as of 00:00 on Monday, March 22, 2021: 

• Any person who enters Ecuador, must present a mandatory negative RT-PCR test or negative antigen test, carried out up to three (3) days before arrival in Ecuador or a detailed COVID-19 vaccination certificate.
• Any person who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 by PCR test, with more than one month prior to the date of onset of symptoms and who continues to present positive PCR tests, as long as there is no symptoms, must present a Medical Certificate issued in the country of origin that guarantees your state of health for entry to Ecuador.
• Any passenger who, upon arrival in Ecuador, presents COVID-19 symptoms (fever, cough, general malaise, loss of smell, loss of taste, etc.) regardless of the result of the PCR test or antigen test, will be evaluated by the health personnel of the Ministry of Public Health prior to entering the migration area. If it is determined that it is a "suspicious case", a rapid antigen test will be carried out and if positive, said passenger must isolate for ten (10) days after the date of sampling at his/her home or Accommodation chosen by and at the expense of the traveler. This information must be included in the Traveler's Health Declaration. In the event that the rapid antigen test is negative, the passenger will not be obligated to isolate.
• Children under two years of age and crew members are exempt from presenting, upon arrival, a negative PCR or negative antigen test, and/or vaccination card.
• Ecuadorian passengers who were declared UNADMITTED in other countries and return to Ecuador, should not present a PCR test, however, the Ministry of Public Health will perform a rapid antigen test at the time of their entry into the country.
• Passengers in transit in Ecuador must not present a negative PCR or antigen test or vaccination card against COVID-19.

Additionally, the National COE states that:

• All passengers upon arrival at airports in Ecuador will go through a temperature scan that will allow identifying temperatures above 37.5°C.
• Every person who enters Ecuador must comply with the biosafety measures established by the Ministry of Public Health, such as:

1. Mandatory use of a mask.
2. Frequent hand washing with soap and water or hand sanitizer use 70%.
3. Maintain a social distance of 2 meters.
4. Continuous cleansing of surfaces.
5. Avoid meetings of more than 10 people in closed places.
6. If necessary, the meeting must be with less than 10 people
7. ensure the ventilation of the place.

For more information, review the document of the NATIONAL COE RESOLUTION - MARCH 17, 2021.

• Quito’s air terminal participates in the category of 5 to 15 million passengers per year.
• Since 2013, Quito airport has achieved more than 20 awards and recognitions.

Mariscal Sucre International Airport obtained a new recognition as the best Airport in Latin America and the Caribbean in the 2020 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards in the 5 to15 million passengers per year category. The ASQ (Airport Service Quality) Program, organized by the Airports Council International (ACI), delivers the most prestigious international awards for airport services offered to passengers.

ASQ rates airport performance in 34 key service areas and allows the results to be benchmarked with those obtained by airports around the world. The service areas include eight main categories, such as access, check-in, security, airport facilities, food and beverage providers and more. All participating airports are evaluated under the same parameters. This creates a unique industry standard and the results allow airports to track and analyze their performance, as well as evaluate the results in relation to airports in each local market and around the world.

For Andrew O'Brian, President and CEO of Quiport, the results obtained in the ASQ program during 2020 are of unique significance, because the global COVID-19 pandemic forced the airport sector to adapt quickly to a new operational and security reality. “The operational conditions and service standards changed radically as of March 2020. At Quiport we immediately asked ourselves how we can guarantee high standards of protection for the health of passengers and airport employees and we immediately undertook a series of projects to adapt and maintain a safe operation,” commented Mr. O'Brian.

The 5 to 15 million passenger category is the most competitive, since it groups the main air terminals in the region. With this award, a milestone of more than 20 international recognitions have been achieved by the Quito airport since its opening in 2013, conferred by the main organizations that evaluate air transport and tourism-related activities in the world.

• The Mayor of the city, Jorge Yunda, the Ministers of Transportation and Public Works and Tourism, the Ambassadors of Canada and Colombia, councilors of Quito, among other authorities and special guests were present at the inaugural event.

The Quito International Airport already boasts a renewed image in its public areas thanks to a comprehensive remodeling of the departure and arrival halls of the passenger terminal, a work undertaken by Corporación Quiport as part of its improvement plan. The project had an investment of US$ 2.18 million, financed by Quiport's and its shareholders. More than 90 contractors worked directly on this project.

Through materials (stone, wood and gardening), textures and design concepts, the renovated public areas offer an avant-garde image and at the same time a greater sense of identity and belonging to the city, while providing greater comfort to users and passengers. For the execution of the project, Quiport partnered with Stantec (Canada), Adriana Hoyos Design Studio, Octofast and InStudio (all from Ecuador); prestigious companies with expertise in various areas such as airport design, interior design and decoration, construction, among others.

The works began in December 2019, and, however, were halted in March 2020 due to the international COVID-19 health crisis. Once the construction activities in the country were authorized, Quiport decided to resume construction and complete the work, since it had already been budgeted.

The remodeling included the replacement of 5,250 square meters of ceramic floor with Brazilian granite. In addition, all the seats were replaced with pieces of furniture specially designed for the airport, with space for 148 people in total. A fundamental part of the design of the public departure hall is the relocation of the commercial stores to the sides of the area, amplifying available area for circulation and providing an effect of spaciousness.

Gardening is one of the new elements that are integrated into the public arrivals hall. Shrubbery incorporated to the novel seating and vertical gardens, placed in the awnings that separate the hall from the check-in areas, offer a feeling of freshness to the entire space. Numerous species of plants endemic to Quito were used in these hanging gardens, including fern, amaranth, rabbit's ear, gardenia leaves, ivy and eucalyptus, among others.

For Adriana Hoyos, director of Adriana Hoyos Design Studio, the challenge was to create a ‘wow effect’ in the renewed space, in which the passenger has a unique, comfortable and memorable experience with decorative elements that break the scheme of a typical commercial place. "We selected the materials based on their warmness and safety for passenger traffic, but without forgetting a great visual impact," said Adriana Hoyos.

Cecilia Einarson, from Canadian Stantec, explained that the objectives of the remodeling were to provide a more open, efficient and modern space that represents the identity of Ecuador's culture. In this sense, the architectural design that was developed gave the opportunity to create spaces by reconfiguring the self-check kiosks, relocating the commercial stores and rest areas.

“We had the privilege of executing the remodeling work. A difference with working on other types of projects is that the airport is a living space, full of movement at all times, in addition, complying with Quiport's strict safety standards, which are the highest in the city,” said InStudio manager Claudia Guerrero.

One of the main elements of the remodeling was the creation and construction of a sculptural element in the center of the public departures hall. It is a latticework of wooden pieces that start from a central point that opens in all directions. The use of wood gives it a unique warmth and versatility that could not have been achieved with any other material. The piece has a height of 7.2 meters and is constructed with local balsa wood from sustainable forests.

The design evokes concepts such as connectivity that an airport generates, connecting the city with the whole world, but also represents the feeling of every person who goes on a trip: the beginning of an adventure to discover new places, the beginning of a business, of studies and even of a new life. That is why this element has been called as ‘The Origin’.

The design was submitted by Stantec and the company in charge of planning, modeling and construction of the work was Octofast. Roberto Wolf, from Octofast, explains that the main challenge was to go from a conceptual design to a constructible design, for which tests were carried out with different types of materials. Everything was done by Ecuadorian engineers, draftsmen and manufacturers with indigenous material.

“I want to congratulate the Quito International Airport for all the works implemented and thank all the companies involved that allow the correct operation of our airport. This is yet another example of how public-private alliances are very important for the productive development of the city. We will continue working in favor of Ecuador's aviation,” said Sandro Ruiz, manager of the Metropolitan Public Airport Services Company (EPMSA).

"One of the parameters that Skytrax evaluated to grant Quito airport the 5-star category was this construction project and the positive impact it will have on the passenger experience”, said Andrew O'Brian, President and CEO of Corporación Quiport, who additionally thanked the commitment of everyone involved in remodeling: the companies for their efforts, the authorities of the city for the agility in approvals and permits, and Quiport’s Engineering , Operations, Commercial and Finance departments, who all took part in the integral management of the project .

"This project required very high levels of planning between our team and contractors, and in the end,  we deliver an infrastructure of the highest quality for the provision of first class services, honoring the commitment Quiport has towards the city and country," concluded Andrew O'Brian.