We recommend at least 50 minutes for a comfortable connection at Mariscal Sucre International. The minimum connection time is 45 minutes for domestic flights and 90 minutes for international flights. Transit between terminals takes up to 10 minutes.

Domestic-to-Domestic: 45 min. Domestic-to-International: 60 min. International-to-Domestic: 75 min. International-to-International: 90 min. These are the shortest layovers airlines will sell at Mariscal Sucre International.

UIO is a compact, modern single-terminal airport in Tababela, about 40 minutes outside central Quito, so physical distances between gates are short. The main complication is that Ecuador has no sterile international transit area, meaning any itinerary touching an international arrival requires a full immigration and customs clearance before rechecking bags, even for another international flight. Pure domestic-to-domestic connections, by contrast, are quick and straightforward. The airport is a single building, so moving between the domestic and international sections is a short walk of 5-10 minutes along one concourse level. There is no train or shuttle needed, but any passenger arriving from outside Ecuador must pass through Immigration and collect and recheck bags at Customs before continuing to any onward flight, domestic or international, which is the real bottleneck rather than physical distance.

30 minutes is still below the domestic-domestic MCT of 45 minutes. See full 30 min guide →

Meets the bare domestic-domestic MCT but leaves no buffer for peak-hour security. See full 45 min guide →

Adequate for domestic-domestic but only marginal for a domestic-to-international connection needing extra processing. See full 1 hr guide →

Meets the international-domestic MCT, giving enough time to clear immigration, collect bags, and recheck. See full 1¼ hr guide →

Sufficient for the toughest international-international connection requiring full immigration and customs re-clearance. See full 1½ hr guide →

Ample time for any combination of domestic and international connections with buffer for delays. See full 2 hr guide →

Very safe window, allowing for slow baggage claim or long immigration lines. See full 2½ hr guide →

Well beyond any realistic connection need at this small, single-terminal airport. See full 3 hr guide →

Excessive buffer for UIO's compact layout, though useful if there are only a few daily onward flight options. See full 4 hr guide →