🧭 Quito Business Aviation Traffic Concentrated at the Current Airport
Quito’s Mariscal Sucre International Airport opened in 2013 under ICAO code SEQM, replacing the former downtown airport with ICAO code SEQU. Aerial imagery records of the old airport, captured on February 19, 2005, and November 11, 2007, are labeled Quito–Mariscal Sucre (UIO/SEQU), with notes indicating that the airport has closed. Avi-Go data show that from August 23 through September 21, 2026, SEQM recorded 120 business jet departures and 132 arrivals, totaling 252 movements. During the same period, an independent query for SEQU by ICAO code recorded zero departures and zero arrivals. Over the 30-day window, SEQM averaged 8.4 movements per day, indicating that recent business aviation activity involving Quito should be tracked and serviced through the current airport, SEQM. SEQU’s zero movements apply only to the explicitly stated period above.
Impact: SEQM handled all observed business aviation movements in Quito during this window, with 252 movements providing a direct benchmark for ground handling, passenger transfer arrangements, and airport traffic analysis. For brokers and operations teams, continuing to use SEQU for current itineraries or data queries could lead to airport identification errors. However, SEQU may still appear in historical records from before 2013, so the two codes must be handled separately based on the relevant period.
Recommendation: Itinerary systems, quotation templates, and customer guidance should uniformly designate SEQM as Quito’s current airport code, while retaining the association between SEQU and the former airport when importing records from before 2013. Going forward, SEQM’s monthly business aviation movement volume and the difference between arrivals and departures should be monitored continuously to provide updated support for ground handling staffing and business aviation service arrangements at the airport.