Most of our Ecuador trips start in Quito, and the domestic flights they use for the Galápagos and the Amazon leave from its airport. Guayaquil, on the coast, is the other way in, and often the better way out. Getting around Ecuador mostly means short flights from those two cities and, in the Andes, the road. The distances are small: Quito to Cuenca is under an hour by air. What takes time is the connection, so plan the first and last nights before you plan the flights.
Quito’s Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO) opened in 2013 at Tababela, well outside the city, replacing the old airport in town. Allow 35 to 50 minutes to Quito in moderate traffic, the airport says. Traffic in Quito is not always moderate.
The city sits at about 9,350 ft (2,850 m). For the altitude, see staying healthy in Ecuador.
From the United States, Quito has non-stop service from Miami (about 4 h 15 m), Atlanta and Houston (about 5 h 20 m) and New York JFK (about 6 h 40 m), as of October 2026. Those flights land in the evening or early in the morning.
Guayaquil’s José JoaquÃn de Olmedo International Airport (GYE) has its own non-stops from Miami (about 4 h 30 m), Fort Lauderdale (about 4 h 20 m) and New York JFK (about 6 h 45 m). American Airlines flies from Miami to both cities.
From Europe, Iberia and Air Europa fly non-stop from Madrid to both cities in 11 to 12 hours, and KLM’s Amsterdam flight lands in Quito after about 12 hours and continues to Guayaquil. Nothing flies non-stop from London, Dublin or Paris, or from Canada: connect in Madrid, Amsterdam, the US, Panama City or Bogotá. Quito also has non-stops from Mexico City, Lima and Buenos Aires. From Australia and New Zealand, one route runs through Santiago de Chile, which has a daily flight to Guayaquil. From South Africa, the Johannesburg non-stops go to São Paulo, which has no passenger flight to Quito, so you connect again.
Quito and Guayaquil are the hubs. These are the main legs, most from our itineraries, with typical non-stop times as of October 2026. Schedules change.
| Leg | Typical flight time | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Quito (UIO) to Baltra (GPS), Galápagos | about 2 h 10 m | Some flights stop in Guayaquil. On the Quito and Galápagos Cruise |
| Guayaquil (GYE) to Baltra | about 2 h | The shorter hop to the islands |
| Guayaquil to San Cristóbal (SCY) | about 1 h 50 m | From Quito, San Cristóbal flights stop in Guayaquil (about 3 h 30 m). The Galápagos Wildlife Discovery tour flies in here and out of Baltra |
| Quito to Coca (OCC) | about 40 m | Then by boat on the Napo River, to Napo Wildlife Center, La Selva Lodge or the Anakonda river cruise |
| Quito to Shell, then Scharamanetsa | about 30 m each, on our itinerary | The connection into the forest for Kapawi Ecolodge |
| Cuenca (CUE) to Quito | about 50 m | The way home from the Avenue of the Volcanoes tour |
| Cuenca to Guayaquil | about 45 m | Or drive, as below |
| Quito to Guayaquil | about 55 m | For a flight home from the coast |
| Cusco (CUZ) to Quito | about 1 h 35 m to Lima, then about 2 h 15 m | No regular non-stop; you usually change in Lima. On Machu Picchu and the Galápagos |
The Galápagos run one hour behind the mainland, and flights there add a step before check-in: the US$20 Transit Control Card and a bag inspection by the islands’ biosecurity agency. See our Ecuador visa requirements and getting to the Galápagos.
For the Amazon, the flight is the easy part. From Coca it is a motorboat down the Napo, about two hours to Napo Wildlife Center, then two more by paddle canoe. More on getting to the Amazon.
Not everything flies. Mashpi Lodge is a drive from Quito, past the equator line at the Middle of the World and the town of Nanegalito, and our transport brings you back to Quito.
The Andes south of Quito we do on the ground. Ecuador’s central sierra, the Avenue of the Volcanoes, runs about 200 miles (325 km) north to south, and our Quito, Cuenca and Avenue of the Volcanoes itinerary works its way down it overland, past Cotopaxi National Park, through Baños and Riobamba, to Cuenca. Then a short flight back to Quito, or to Guayaquil for the flight home.
The Quito and Cuenca tour skips that last flight. From Cuenca it crosses Cajas National Park to Guayaquil, and you fly home from there.
People ask whether to fly into Quito or Guayaquil. Both work. The better question is where the trip ends. The Quito and Cuenca tour lands in Quito and leaves from Guayaquil, and the Quito and Galápagos Cruise can finish in Guayaquil too. In through the capital, out from the coast. No backtracking.
For the Galápagos, give yourself room. A cruise has one departure you do not want to miss, so we plan at least one or two nights in Quito before the flight to the islands, and book that flight together with the cruise, so the boat knows where you are. Our co-founder Juergen Keller, writing about Brazil: “Leave slack in your trip!” Our Quito tours fill those days well.
And look beyond Ecuador. Juergen’s advice on routing Argentina, “Think international!”, works here too. Machu Picchu and the Galápagos starts in Lima, flies from Cusco to Quito by way of Lima, and spends four nights in mainland Ecuador before the islands.
Our Ecuador and Galápagos itinerary prices are estimates without flights: every tour page says “Flights priced separately” or “Flights quoted separately”, and the Amazon cruises list the flights to and from Coca under Not Included. International flights are not included; the domestic legs your route needs are quoted with your trip, so the flight to the islands lines up with the boat. Start with a custom Ecuador trip.
Yes. As of October 2026, Quito has non-stops from Miami, Atlanta, Houston and New York, and Guayaquil from Miami, Fort Lauderdale and New York. Older guides also list Los Angeles and Chicago to Quito, and Houston to Guayaquil; none of those carries passengers today.
LATAM and Avianca fly the main routes, including the Galápagos, and Aeroregional, a smaller Ecuadorian airline, also flies from Quito to Coca and Loja. Older guides still list TAME, whose liquidation the government announced in May 2020, Aerogal, which became Avianca in 2014, and LAN Ecuador, now LATAM. Equair stopped flying in September 2023.
No. The islands’ two airports, Baltra and San Cristóbal, have flights only from Quito and Guayaquil.
Quito’s airport asks for check-in three hours before an international flight and one hour before a domestic one; Guayaquil’s asks for three and two. Land in Guayaquil from abroad and fly on to Quito, Cuenca or the Galápagos, and you collect your bags, clear customs and check in again. Leave a generous connection, or a night.
Next, our Ecuador travel guide, the best time to visit Ecuador and Ecuador’s weather.
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