The airport is not around the corner
Mariscal Sucre sits 45 kilometres east of the Old Town, in farmland, at the end of a motorway. Nobody warns you, and it is the first thing that goes wrong: an hour of driving after a long-haul flight, at a price that surprises people who were expecting a short hop.
The short version
- 45 minutes to an hour in normal traffic. Up to ninety at rush hour.
- The official taxi counter inside arrivals is the right choice for most people. Budget $25–30.
- Ride-hailing is cheaper but picks you up in the car park, not at the door.
- The bus is genuinely cheap and genuinely slow. Daylight and light luggage only.
- Our own return transfer is $55 for direct bookers — less than two official taxis.
- Arriving after dark or leaving before dawn? Arrange the car in advance, rather than sorting it out on the pavement.
Why it is so far away
Quito's old airport was in the middle of the city — planes came in over rooftops and the runway is now Parque Bicentenario. It closed in 2013 and was replaced by the current one in Tababela, a parish out past the eastern valleys.
The drive is about 43 km by the Ruta Viva, the fast modern road, or closer to 48 km if traffic pushes you onto the Panamericana. It is a good highway. The bottleneck is where it meets the city.
One detail worth knowing: the airport is at 2,400 m and the Old Town is at 2,850 m. You do 450 metres of climbing on that drive, which is why a few people start noticing the altitude somewhere around the last ten minutes.
The four ways into town
| Option | Cost · time |
|---|---|
| Official airport taxi Counter inside arrivals, fixed zone fare | $25–30 45–60 min |
| Our transfer, return Driver waiting with your name at the exit. $70 if booked separately | $55 direct 45–60 min |
| Uber / inDrive Pickup in the car park, not at the terminal door | $15–25 45–70 min |
| Bus + Ecovía or Trolebús Daylight only, one or two transfers | ~$2–3 2 hours |
| Two official taxis, there and back | $50–60 |
A note on the prices: published figures vary between sources, and some quote a flat rate while others quote by zone. Treat the taxi numbers above as the range to expect, not a quote. Confirm the fare at the counter before you get in the car — it is posted, and that is the whole point of using the counter.
Look at the arithmetic before you assume a hotel transfer is the expensive option. Two official taxis, there and back, come to $50–60. Our return transfer is $55 for guests who book direct — $70 if arranged separately — for a large, comfortable, fully insured car and a driver holding a sign with your name on it. Ride-hailing is genuinely cheaper at $20–25 each way. Everything else costs about the same, and the difference is what happens when you walk out of that terminal.
The official taxi, in detail
Walk out of baggage claim into the arrivals hall and look for the taxi desk. You tell them where you are going, they tell you the fare for that zone, and you get a voucher for an assigned driver. The fare covers the car, not the person, so four of you pay the same as one.
Official taxis are yellow, with orange number plates and a registration number displayed on the windscreen. They are required to have onboard cameras. If someone approaches you inside the terminal offering a ride, that is not one of them, and you should keep walking.
Practical things that catch people out: most drivers speak little or no English, so have the address written down. Seatbelts are compulsory for every passenger, in the back as well. And bring small bills — handing over a fifty for a twenty-five dollar fare at midnight will not go well.
Uber and inDrive: cheaper, with a catch
Both operate in Quito and both are noticeably cheaper. The catch is the pickup. Drivers are not permitted to collect passengers at the arrivals door, so you will be directed to a spot in the car park, which means finding it with your luggage, at night, in a place you have never been, while the driver waits. Cancellations happen.
If you are travelling light, speak some Spanish and have a working data connection the moment you land, it is a fine choice. If any of those three are missing, the twenty dollars you save will not feel like a bargain.
The bus, honestly
Two consortiums run from the airport: SOTRANOR north to the Río Coca terminal, where you change to the Ecovía, and COSIBO south to Quitumbe, where you change to the Trolebús. Either way you reach the Old Town for two or three dollars in total.
It works. It also takes about two hours with at least one transfer, the buses stop running in the evening, and the trolley system at rush hour is not a place to be with two suitcases. Take it if you are travelling light, arriving in daylight and have time to spare. Otherwise it is a false economy on the one day of your trip when you are most tired.
One correction worth making: a number of guides still list an $8 Aeroservicios shuttle to Parque Bicentenario. Recent reporting says that service has stopped. Do not build an arrival plan around it without checking that it is running.
Arriving at night
Most long-haul flights into Quito land in the evening or later. This is the scenario worth planning for properly.
The official taxi counter runs around the clock, so you are never stranded. But being stranded is not the risk worth planning for. The risk is the twenty minutes you spend standing outside a terminal at two in the morning with your luggage and your phone out, working out which car is yours — and then arriving at a door in the Old Town at three, alone, with nobody expecting you.
If you take one piece of advice from this page, take this one: for anything arriving after dark or leaving before dawn, have the car arranged in advance. Not because the alternatives are dangerous in themselves, but because a pre-arranged driver removes three specific things at once — the wait on the pavement, the negotiation with a stranger while tired, and the arrival at a building where nobody knows you are coming.
When we handle it, we are in contact with the driver from the moment your flight lands until you are through our door, and reception knows to expect you. That last part matters more than people realise at three in the morning.
Whoever you book with, give them your flight number rather than your arrival time. Flights move; a driver watching the flight number does not need to be told.
Going the other way
Leaving is where the distance really bites, because of one specific flight.
Every Galápagos departure leaves Quito in the morning, and you need to be at the airport three hours ahead for the transit card and the biosecurity inspection. Work backwards through 45 kilometres of road and you are leaving the Old Town around 04:30. That is not a taxi you want to be flagging down on the street. Arrange it the day before.
The full sequence is in our guide to the Galápagos flights, including why that early alarm is unavoidable.
Three things nobody mentions
- There is no cash machine you should rely on. Have some dollars before you land, in small denominations.
- Rush hour is real. 07:00–09:30 and 16:00–19:30. A 45-minute drive becomes 90.
- The last ten minutes are uphill and winding. If you are prone to car sickness after a long flight, sit in the front.
What we do here
We run our own airport transfer, both directions, at a fixed price agreed before you travel: $55 return for guests who book direct with us, $70 otherwise. The car is large, comfortable and fully insured. Your driver waits at the exit holding a sign with your name, so there is no hunting through a car park and no conversation to have on the pavement.
We stay in contact with the vehicle throughout the journey, and reception knows when you are due. For a 04:30 Galápagos departure we arrange it the night before and have breakfast ready before you leave.
Send us your flight number when you book, or message us on WhatsApp.
If you are arriving straight from sea level, read what to expect in your first 24 hours at 2,850 m before you plan anything for that first afternoon.
Arrive once, unpack once, walk everywhere after that
Nine rooms in a restored 1914 house in San Blas, on the quiet edge of the Old Town. Book direct for our lowest rate and send us your flight number — we will have the car and the key waiting.
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