Old Mariscal Sucre International Airport

Mariscal Sucre International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional Mariscal Sucre
IATA: UIO ICAO: SEQU
Summary
Airport type	Defunct
Operator	Corporación Quiport S.A.
Serves	Quito
Location	Chaupicruz, Quito Canton, Pichincha, Ecuador
Opened	August 5, 1960 (1960-08-05)
Closed	February 19, 2013 (2013-02-19)
Elevation  AMSL	9,228 ft / 2,813 m
Coordinates	00°08′28″S078°29′17″W / 0.14111°S 78.48806°W / -0.14111; -78.48806
Website	www.aeropuertoquito.aero
Map
UIO Location within Ecuador
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 17/35 3,120 10,236 Asphalt (closed)
Statistics (2011)
Passengers 8,900,000 (approx)
Source: DAFIF [1] [2]

Mariscal Sucre International Airport( IATA : UIO, ICAO : SEQU) was the main international airport that served Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador. It was the busiest airport in Ecuador by passenger traffic, by aircraft movement and by cargo movement, and one of the busiest airports in South America. It was named after Venezuelan-born Antonio José de Sucre, a hero of Ecuadorian and Latin American independence. It began operations on August 5, 1960, and during its last years of operation, handled about 6.2 million passengers and 164,000 metric tons of freight per year. The airport, one of the highest in the world (at 2,800 metres or 9,200 feet AMSL) was located in the northern part of the city, in the Chaupicruz parish, within five minutes of Quito's financial center; the terminals were located at the intersection of Amazonas and La Prensa avenues. Mariscal Sucre International was the largest hub for TAME with an average of 50 daily departures.

The old Mariscal Sucre International Airport ceased all operations at 19:00 on February 19, 2013, following the departure of TAME flight 321 to Guayaquil (scheduled for 18:55). Iberia operated the final international departure from the airport. On the morning of February 20, 2013, all operations moved to the new airport of the same name. The first domestic flights scheduled to arrive at the new airport were TAME Flight 302 originating in Guayaquil, and LAN Flight 2590 originating in Lima, Peru. The new airport is located in the Tababela parish, about 18 kilometres (11 mi) to the east of the city. It was constructed by a private consortium. ^[3]

The former airport is now the site of Parque Bicentenario, the biggest urban park in Quito.

Due to its location in the middle of a city surrounded by mountains, the old airport could no longer be expanded to accommodate any larger aircraft or an increase in air traffic. Its operation posed risks; several serious accidents and incidents had occurred in years prior to its closure. ^{[4] [5]}

History

Mariscal Sucre International Airport was inaugurated in 1960, the main terminal was designed during the government of President Velasco Ibarra. The present terminal and concourses (A, B and C) were refurbished in 2003, consisting of several taxiways, maintenance platforms, parking areas, a cellar, passenger halls, mezzanine areas and other amenities. Terminal B consisted of two floors; the lower level held the departures area with executive waiting rooms and restaurants, and the upper level consisted of airline and airport offices.

The airport had ten gates, five with Jet bridges and five with stairs.

Runway safety area

The airport had a runway safety area, built in 1999–2000 as a consequence of the crash of Cubana de Aviación Flight 389 in August 1998. The structure was erected in the immediate and adjacent areas to the start of runway 17 (end of runway 35), from where Flight 389 had strayed after its aborted take-off, which killed 81 people both in the jetliner and on the ground. The project, which involved private and public property expropriation, ^{[6] [7]} erected a horizontal berm-like platform 280 meters long and 92 meters wide ^[6] that increased the runway excursion space for planes to stop in case of an aborted takeoff or a bad landing. ^[8]

The safety zone covered all or part of the places through which the Cubana Tu-154 had passed before stopping. Tufiño Avenue, which circles the start of runway 17, had a two-way tunnel built to allow vehicular traffic under the new structure. ^[9] Nearby streets and other surrounding residential areas and businesses were also protected from accidents by the new construction. The safety zone was finished and inaugurated in mid-July 2000. ^[9]

Airlines

TAME's main hub

On 10 December 2000, TAME officially opened its hub in Quito, offering an estimated 2,000 possible connections per week, including greater numbers of frequencies, schedules and destinations served. Connections between domestic and international destinations were operated directly and through code sharing agreements with airlines such as TACA Airlines and Copa Airlines.

Operations out of Quito allowed travelers to connect between domestic destinations (such as Guayaquil to Galápagos), from a domestic destination to an international destination (Such as Tena to Cali), from an international destination to a domestic city (Such as Cali to Tulcán), between two international destinations (Such as Bogota to Panama City) and allows for simpler codeshare connections (such as Lima to Santa Rosa with TACA Airlines and TAME).

The hub also featured facilities for easier transits, such as exclusive check-in counters for travelers in transit, buses for internal transportation between Terminals A & B, and two special lounges for national and international transit passengers to avoid having to go through Ecuadorian customs and immigration between transits.

TAME's hub transferred to Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Tababela on February 19, 2013.

Facilities

The airport consisted of one terminal split into national and international sections. It was equipped with five swing gates capable of directing arriving passengers to either immigration or to baggage claim. In addition, there were numerous ground slots where passengers walked to the aircraft from the terminal.

Passenger services

VIP lounges

Mariscal Sucre Airport had 4 VIP Salons in the terminals A and B. For passengers of AeroGal, there was an exclusive salon near gate 2,"AeroGal VIP Club". Passengers of TAME had access to the "TAME" VIP Lounge in terminal B, a lounge that was exclusively for first and business class passengers. This area was nominated as the best VIP lounge of the year in Ecuador, the "QUIPORT VIP Club", and a lesser VIP Lounge, the "American Airlines Admirals Club" in the gate 10.

Transportation

Transportation between the airport and city was provided by taxis, tour buses and vans. For security reasons, visitors were recommended to take only those taxis offered by registered companies at the airport Terminal A arrivals area.

Former terminals, airlines and destinations

The airlines listed in bold are currently in operation and serve the new Quito airport while the airlines listed in italics are also in operation but no longer serve Quito.

Domestic Passenger Terminal

This terminal served national arrivals and departures, the airlines that served here were:

Airlines	Destinations
AeroGal (now Avianca Ecuador )	Cuenca, Guayaquil, El Coca, Manta, Lago Agrio
Austro Aéreo	Cuenca
Ecuatoriana de Aviación	Guayaquil
Icaro Air	Guayaquil, Coca, Manta
LAN Ecuador (now LATAM Ecuador )	Cuenca, Guayaquil
Panagra	Guayaquil
SAEREO	Macas
SAETA	Guayaquil, Cuenca, Baltra, San Cristóbal
SAN Ecuador	Guayaquil, Cuenca
TAME	Baltra, Cuenca, Tulcan, Coca, Esmeraldas, Guayaquil, Manta, Nueva Loja, Loja, Salinas, Santa Rosa, Macas, Tena

International Passenger Terminal

This terminal served international arrivals and departures, the airlines, defunct or still operating, were:

Airlines	Destinations
ACES Colombia	Bogotá, Medellín–Córdova
Aero Continente	Lima
Aerolíneas Argentinas	Buenos Aires–Ezeiza
AeroGal (now Avianca Ecuador )	Bogotá, Medellín–Córdova, Lima, Miami, New York–JFK
Aeroperú	Lima
Air Comet	Madrid
Air Europa	Madrid
Air France	Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Air Madrid	Barcelona, Madrid
American Airlines	Miami
AOM French Airlines	Paris–Orly
Avensa	Caracas
Avianca	Bogotá
Braniff International	Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, San Francisco, Washington–Dulles
British Caledonian	Caracas, London–Gatwick
Continental Airlines	Houston–Intercontinental, Newark
Copa Airlines	Panama City
Copa Airlines Colombia	Bogotá
Cruzeiro	Rio de Janeiro–Galeão, São Paulo–Guarulhos
Cubana de Aviación	La Habana
Delta Air Lines	Atlanta
Dominicana de Aviación	Santo Domingo
Eastern Air Lines	Miami, New York–JFK
Ecuatoriana de Aviación	Antofagasta, Asunción, Bogotá, Buenos Aires–Ezeiza, Cali, Cancún, Caracas, Chicago–O'Hare, La Paz, Lima, Los Angeles, Madrid, Manaus, Mexico City, Montevideo, Montréal–Mirabel, Miami, Nassau, New York–JFK, Panama City, Rio de Janeiro–Galeão, San Francisco, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Santiago de Chile, São Paulo–Guarulhos, Tel Aviv, Toronto–Pearson, Washington–Dulles
Iberia	Madrid
Icaro Air	Bogotá, Cali
KLM	Amsterdam, Bonaire
LACSA (now Avianca Costa Rica )	San José de Costa Rica
Lufthansa	Frankfurt, Lima, San Juan
LAN Airlines (now LATAM Chile )	Santiago de Chile, Miami
LAN Ecuador (now LATAM Ecuador )	Buenos Aires–Ezeiza, Madrid, Miami, Santiago de Chile
LAN Perú (now LATAM Perú )	Lima, Cali, Medellín–Córdova
Lapsa	Asunción
Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano	Santa Cruz de la Sierra, La Paz
Mexicana de Aviación	Mexico City
Pan Am	Miami, New York–JFK
Panagra	Bogotá, Lima, Miami, New York–JFK
Saeta	Bogotá, Buenos Aires–Ezeiza, Caracas, Cusco, La Paz, Lima, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Medellín, Miami, New York–JFK, Panama City, Santiago de Chile
Servivensa	Caracas
TACA Airlines (now Avianca El Salvador )	San Salvador
TACA Peru	Lima
TAME	Bogotá, Cali, Caracas, Lima, Panama City, São Paulo–Guarulhos
United Airlines	Houston–Intercontinental
Varig	Rio de Janeiro–Galeão, San José de Costa Rica, São Paulo–Guarulhos
VASP	São Paulo–Guarulhos
Viasa	Bogotá, Caracas

Cargo airlines and destinations

These destinations were served from the Cargo Terminal.

Airlines	Destinations
ABSA Cargo Airline	Fortaleza, Guayaquil, Manaus, Campinas–Viracopos, Miami, Panama City
AeroSucre	Bogotá
Air Cargo Germany	Bogota, Frankfurt, Frankfurt–Hahn, Mexico City, Toronto–Pearson
Atlas Air	New York–JFK
Cargolux	Bogotá, Luxembourg City, Maastricht, Campinas–Viracopos
Centurion Air Cargo	Miami
Cielos Airlines	Lima, Miami
DHL Aero Expreso	Miami
FedEx Express	Memphis, Miami
Florida West International Airways	Miami
LAN Cargo	Amsterdam, Buenos Aires–Ezeiza, Miami, Santiago de Chile
LANCO	Amsterdam, Bogotá, Miami, Rio de Janeiro–Galeão
Lufthansa Cargo	Frankfurt
Líneas Aéreas Suramericanas	Bogotá
Martinair	Aguadilla, Amsterdam, Miami, San Jose de Costa Rica
MasAir	Los Angeles, Mexico City
Singapore Airlines Cargo	Bogotá, Brussels, Campinas–Viracopos
Southern Air	Miami
TAMPA Cargo	Bogotá, Medellín, Miami
UPS Airlines	Miami
World Airways Cargo	Miami

Old Airport (near the top of the image) spotted from a KLM MD-11 on approach to it in 2010.

Accidents and incidents

• 29 November 2012: A Boeing 737-800 of Copa Airlines went off the runway during landing, leaving the main landing gear about 3 feet from the concrete. There were no injuries and the accident was caused by heavy rain falling at the time. ^[10]
• 16 September 2011: TAME Flight 148 from Loja, 97 passengers & 6 crew, slipped off the runway at 19:11. A government official said some passengers suffered "light contusions", but none perished. ^{[11] [12]} Airport operations were halted for 3.5 hrs.
• 27 October 2009: An Ecuadorian Air Force HAL Dhruv helicopter crashed during display maneuvers at Mariscal Sucre International Airport, with both pilots sustaining only minor scratches and no casualties. The aircraft was flying in military formation with two other helicopters. ^[13]
• 19 March 2009: An Ecuadorian Air Force Beechcraft B200 King Air struck a building in the Guápulo district of Quito while on approach to Mariscal Sucre International Airport in heavy fog. All five occupants of the aircraft were killed, as well as two people on the ground.
• 23 September 2008: An Icaro Air Fokker F28 Mk4000 skidded off the runway. There were no injuries among the 62 passengers, but the aircraft was written off.
• 9 November 2007: An Iberia Airbus A340-600 operating Iberia Flight 6463 was badly damaged after sliding off runway 35 and coming to a stop in the runway safety area. The landing gear collapsed and two engines were dislodged. All 333 passengers and crew were evacuated via inflatable slides, but no serious injuries were reported.
• 20 April 2005: Angry protesters breached the airport perimeter with vehicles and blocked the runway, resulting in the closure of the airport for several hours. This occurred as deposed President Lucio Gutiérrez attempted to flee the capital in an Ecuadorian Army Super King Air, shortly after being ousted by a popular revolt that same day, which forced him to leave Carondelet Palace (and later being finally removed by the Congress). The protester's assault forced the pilots to abort takeoff, after which Gutiérrez boarded an Army helicopter; which had earlier removed him from Carondelet Palace and took him to the airport, and fled to the safe haven of the Brazilian ambassador's residency in Quito before leaving into exile.^{[ citation needed ] [14]}
• 17 January 2003: A TAME Fokker F28 Mk4000 suffered a runway excursion after takeoff was aborted due to a tire blowout. The nose gear collapsed, and the aircraft came to rest 81 metres (266 ft) past the runway threshold and into the runway safety area. There were no injuries.
• 29 August 1998: Cubana de Aviación Flight 389, a Tupolev Tu-154M overshot the runway, killing the 14-member crew, 56 of the 77 passengers and 10 people on the ground. ^[5] The accident led to the construction of a runway safety area at the end of runway 35 (start of runway 17).
• 1 May 1996: A Fly Linhas Aéreas Boeing 727-200 aborted takeoff in rainy weather, but overshot the runway, crossing a road that lay at the end of runway 35. The aircraft was fully loaded. No injuries were reported. on the plane were the players of a Brazilian Corinthians soccer team.
• 3 May 1995: The pilot of a Gulfstream II operated by American Jet, inbound from Buenos Aires via La Paz, selected the wrong VOR frequency during a nighttime approach to Quito; the jet flew 12 miles (19 km) further south than it should have, striking the Sincholagua volcano at 16,000 feet (4,900 m). All seven occupants were killed. The flight was carrying an important number of oil executives from Argentina and Chile to a meeting in Quito. Amongst those killed was Argentine YPF's CEO and president José Estenssoro, who had led privatization efforts under Carlos Menem; Juan Pedrals Gili, the Spanish-born general manager of Chilean ENAP as well as Manfred Hecht Mittersteiner, chief of production at ENAP's international subsidiary Sipetrol. ^{[15] [16] [17]}
• 10 December 1992: A North American Sabreliner 60 operated by the Ecuadorian Air Force clipped a 10-story building under construction 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of the airport. The aircraft crashed into a residential area, killing all 10 on board and 3 on the ground.
• 3 June 1988: an Ecuadorian Air Force North American Sabreliner NA265-40A crashed in Quito, killing all 11 people on board including the commander of the Ecuadorian Air Force, and a high-ranking officer of Israeli Air Force ^[18]
• 18 September 1984: An AECA (Aeroservicios Ecuatorianos) Douglas DC-8-50 freighter failed to achieve altitude during takeoff, running off the end of the runway and crashing into a residential area 460 metres (1,510 ft) past the runway, destroying 25 houses, killing all 4 crewmembers and 49 people on the ground
• 29 April 1982: A Lockheed C-130 Hercules operated by the Ecuadorian Air Force crashed into a mountain near Quito while executing a missed approach; 7 were killed.
• 27 January 1980: An Avianca Boeing 727 landed too fast, too far down the runway, and consequently overran, collapsing the nosegear. No injuries were reported.
• 7 November 1960: An AREA Ecuador Fairchild F-27A struck the dormant Atacazo volcano in bad weather during its approach to the newly-opened Mariscal Sucre International Airport after a domestic flight from Simón Bolívar International Airport, in Guayaquil. ^{[19] [20]} The crash, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) south of Quito and 150 meters to the summit of the Atacazo, killed all the 37 occupants of the plane. ^[21] This particular aircraft (msn. 1, reg. HC-ADV) was the first prototype of the Fairchild F-27, which had been sold to AREA Ecuador in 1959. ^{[22] [23]} At the time, it was the worst aerial crash in the history of Ecuador, the first and worst fatal loss of an F-27, and the first accident involving the then-recently-opened Quito airport. ^{[24] [25]}

References

1. Airport information for SEQU ^[usurped] from DAFIF (effective October 2006)
2. Airport information for UIO at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
3. "White-Knuckle Quito Airport To Close". Flying. 31 January 2013.
4. Report Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine on the conditions of the current airport and the benefits of a new airport (Inter-American Development Bank)
5. "ASN Aircraft accident Tupolev 154M CU-T1264 Quito-Mariscal Sucre Airport (UIO)". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. 13 November 2005. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
6. "Aeropuerto Zona de seguridad estará lista este mes" [Airport Security zone will be ready this month]. La Hora (in Spanish). 2000-03-01. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
7. "En zona de seguridad del aeropuerto" [In the airport security zone]. La Hora (in Spanish). 2000-01-14. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
8. "Para evitar salidas de la pista" [To avoid runway excursions]. La hora (in Spanish). 2000-06-11. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
9. "Consta de dos túneles" [It consists of two tunnels]. La Hora (in Spanish). 2000-07-14. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
10. "Boeing 737 de Copa se sale de pista en Quito". 29 November 2012.
11. Archived 2012-04-01 at the Wayback Machine El Comercio, Avion TAME Salió Mariscal Sucre
12. Archived 2014-05-23 at the Wayback Machine Hoy, Un Avion Se Sale de la Pista
13. "Un helicóptero indio recién adquirido por la FAE se estrelló durante ceremonia militar". Archived from the original on 2009-10-30.
14. "Ecuador's president ousted amid uprising". 21 April 2005.
15. Sims, Calvin (5 May 1995). "Jose Estenssoro, 61, Who Led Oil Privatization in Argentina". The New York Times.
16. "Argentine oil chief dies in plane crash".
17. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-08-03. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
18. "accident record". Archived from the original on 23 August 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
19. "Los momentos tristes del aeropuerto Mariscal Sucre". 30 April 2012.
20. https://airlinercafe.com/forums/topic/lost-schemes-294-area-ecuador-dc-7c-1968/ ^{[ bare URL ]}
21. "Accident Fairchild F-27A HC-ADV, Monday 7 November 1960".
22. https://www.fokkerairliners.net/424443594 Archived 2023-06-08 at the Wayback Machine ^{[ bare URL ]}
23. https://airlinercafe.com/forums/topic/lost-schemes-294-area-ecuador-dc-7c-1968/ ^{[ bare URL ]}
24. "Los momentos tristes del aeropuerto Mariscal Sucre". 30 April 2012.
25. "Accident Fairchild F-27A HC-ADV, Monday 7 November 1960".

External links

• Ecuador portal
• Aviation portal

• Media related to Old Mariscal Sucre International Airport at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• CORPAQ – Corporación Aeropuerto de Quito (in Spanish)
• Current weather for SEQU at NOAA / NWS
• Accident history for UIO at Aviation Safety Network