LAN Ecuador is to introduce a second link to the Galapagos Islands this year with the introduction of a twice weekly service to San Cristobal. The airline will launch flights from Quito, via Guayaquil, on October 9, complementing its daily schedule to Baltra, which will begin in September.

The company, an affiliate of LAN Airlines, becomes the third local carrier to offer regular scheduled links to the Galapagos market, currently already served by Aerogal and TAME. Its two rivals already provide services from Quito and Guayaquil to San Cristobal. An estimated 35,000 O&D passengers travelled between San Cristobal and Guayaquil in the past year, with 23,000 making the journey to or from Quito.

The Galapagos Islands are a popular tourist destination for international visitors to Ecuador but the government caps the number of flights for environment reasons and no direct links are allowed from outside the country. The arrival of LAN Ecuador in this market will help aid travel, with the airline able to offer good connections via its partner carriers across Latin America and into North America and Europe.

Schedule:

XL1561 UIO0815 – 0910GYE0955 – 1050SCY 320 17
XL1560 SCY1135 – 1435GYE1515 – 1610UIO 320 17