It also served as the main hub for TAME, Ecuador's flag-carrier, before the airline was liquidated by the Ecuadorian government in 2020.

The old airport posed enormous risks because it was located in the middle of a mountainous city with high wind currents.

It could no longer be expanded to accommodate larger aircraft or increased air traffic, and had been the scene of numerous incidents and crashes during the latter years of its operation.

[14] As part of final certification steps for the airport, Quito's mayor Augusto Barrera and around 100 other passengers left an early morning flight from nearby Mariscal Sucre International Airport on an American Airlines Boeing 757 on July 2, 2012.

[citation needed] The official inauguration was postponed from October 2012, citing the progress of improvements to various access routes, the holiday season, and other factors.