Ecuador Brings Down the Cost of Flying

By reducing flight-related fees, the government of Ecuador is bringing the cost of flying to and from the country down to more manageable levels.

“As of today, we have eliminated unnecessary barriers for tourists to come and explore Ecuador,” said Niels Olsen, Ecuador’s Minister of Tourism. “We used to be one of the most expensive countries to visit due to all the fees and taxes created by previous governments that made flying excessively expensive.”

“Under our current government, we have signed the Open Skies Agreement, and reduced the Eco Delta and Tourism Potential taxes that added to flight tickets.”

As of June 1, the Eco Delta tax and the Tourism Potential tax have been reduced for all travelers. The two main airports in the country – Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito and Jose Joaquin de Olmedo International Airport in Guayaquil – will be the ones most directly impacted by the price of tickets going down.

For international airports located in the cities of Quito and Guayaquil, the tax reduction is as follows:

• Eco Delta Tax: Previously $50 US, the value of the tax is now 5% of the net fare with a maximum cap of $50 US.
• Tourism Potential Tax: Previously $10 US, the value was reduced to 5% of the net fare with a maximum cap of $10 US

For international airports under public administration, namely Manta and Latacunga, the tax reduction is as follows:

• Eco Delta Tax: Previously $50 US, the value of the tax is now $5 US.
• Tourism Potential Tax: Previously $10 US, the value of the tax is now $1 US.

In addition to decreasing the per person cost of flights, the government hopes this will incentivize more airlines to operate new routes to the country. Currently, 16 airlines connect Quito directly with 19 international destinations and nine destinations within Ecuador. From the U.S. this includes American Airlines, Delta, LATAM, United, JetBlue Avianca, and Spirit.