Quito Airport ready to resume operations on June 1

Quito Airport has announced that it is working with the airlines and airport community to resume operations on June 1 if given the green light to do so by the Ecuadorian government.

The airport, which notes that it has remained open and operational for cargo and repatriation flights for Ecuadorians and foreign nationals throughout the coronavirus crisis, reveals that it been preparing to “adapt to a new way of traveling, with new processes and protocols to care for passengers and airport collaborators” for the past few weeks.

Andrew O’Brian, president and CEO of Corporación Quiport, says: “We are working together with the airlines and other members of the airport community and we already have a plan for returning to activities, probably as of June 1st.

“Naturally, the national Emergency Operations Committee (COE) will have the final say, and everything will be carried out in co-ordination with the Quito’s cantonal COE, led by Mayor Jorge Yunda, the Metropolitan Public Company of Airport Services and the General Directorate of Civil Aviation, who are the authorities we maintain a constant line of communication.”

He says that valuable lessons have been learned while managing repatriation flights about how airport operations should be carried out following the new sanitary requirements.

“Beyond the date of opening of borders and resumption of flights, we are going to be ready, guaranteeing safety and health at the country’s main airport,” assured O’Brian.

Like most airports across the globe, Quito has been hit hard by COVID-19, its passenger numbers falling by 90%, and O’Brian insists that it is in the national interests of Ecuador that it up and running again soon.

“Quito’s airport service is strategic, it is the city’s gateway to the world,” says O’Brian, noting that the airport generates 8,500 jobs and provides the fastest way to bring goods and supplies to Ecuador’s capital city.