People often ask about airlines to the Galapagos, both in terms of which airline to fly and weight limitations, especially important to divers. So hopefully, what you'll have here is a flight guide that answers all questions.  To see flight prices for 2012, click here.

Arriving into Ecuador:

You can arrive into either Quito (UIO) or Guayaquil (GYE). You must overnight in one of these two cities upon arrival.  We always recommend that if you are simply flying into the Galapagos with no mainland tours, Guayaquil is more convenient.  Flights from Quito route through Guayaquil.  It is a bit closer and the price is a bit lower.  On the other hand, if you wish to do some sightseeing on mainland Ecuador, Quito offers so much more than Guayaquil.

You can visit cloud forests, take a quick flight over to the Amazon jungle (far better than in Peru), visit one of South America's most famous indigenous markets 2 hours away in Otavalo or simply tour Old Quito which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  There are haciendas to enjoy and snow capped mountains to climb.  You can ride horses in the Andes, go river rafting and so very much more.  

Quayaquil is a city on large rivers, so even though, on a map, it looks like it's on the coast. The closest beach is about an hour away.  Yes, the Malecon is a nice river walk for tourists and I must admit, night time at Las Penas is fun, but I'd stick with Quito for mainland activities.  In terms of convenience, go for the best deal on an international flight into either city if simply getting to the Galapagos is your aim.

Unless you are arriving on a red-eye, after an overnight in either Guayaquil or Quito, you should arrive to the airport 1.5 - 2 hours in advance.  Before you even check in for your flight, you must first purchase an INGALA visitor form, a transit control card.  This resembles an immigration form, though the bottom part of it is detachable and for you to store away somewhere safe as you will need to present it at departure.  Go to INGALA before going to your airline counter or you will simply wait in line only to be sent back to INGALA.

In Quito, the INGALA area is before you enter the airport on the curbside by the domestic departures entrance.  In Guayaquil, the INGALA window is just to the left of Aerogal and Tame counters.  At INGALA, they'll ask you where you are staying or the name of your boat.  You pay $10 in cash and they give you the customs form.  You'll be advised to retain both bottom sections, one to hand in as you depart and the other to serve as your ID in Galapagos.  Keep this safe as you do need to present the one stub prior to boarding on your departure from the Galapagos.

Next, they run your bag through an X-Ray machine and may decide to inspect it for organic material. You may transport most processed food items between islands, but things like some raw nuts, fruit, etc are not permitted.  Refer to INGALA's list online for more details.

After that, go to your airline's counter for check-in and boarding passes.  They don't usually ask if you have an aisle or window preference, so if you do, best to let them know when you present your passport.  They never ask for your e-ticket either, just your passport. 

Weight Restrictions:

You are allowed one checked bag that weighs 22 kilos, 48.5 pounds, plus a carry on.  They do weigh the carry-on which has a weight limitation of 8 kilos, 18 pounds.  They do allow you to check in an additional bag for roughly $1 per kilo, 2.2 pounds.  LAN charges $25 for an extra bag.  Aerogal often lets it slide altogether.

Which Airline to the Galapagos?

First and foremost, all of the Galapagos Liveaboards depart from San Cristobal (SCY) for now.  Aerogal,  Tame and LAN service San Cristobal, but not every day.   What are the differences?  Well, in terms of the flight itself, I don't think there is much of a difference in service.  For divers, Aerogal rarely charges for extra weight or 2 checked bags.  In fact, I can't remember it ever happening.  Tame and LAN always charge for anything overweight.  LAN charges $25 for the 2nd checked bag/overweight.  Tame charges around $1 per kilo, depending on where your flight is from.  It could be double that from some cities.  For anyone outside Ecuador, Aerogal online or on the phone charge a bit more than you can purchase your flight from inside Ecuador.  Tame is virtually impossible to buy from outside Ecuador...maybe if you call Ecuador from wherever you are and their website rarely functions correctly.  

All flights can be extremely difficult for you to change yourself.  This can turn out to be very important.  We have had clients who's flights were delayed or canceled in other countries and so they could not make their scheduled Galapagos flights.  Sometimes, for various reasons your cruise may need to return to Baltra rather than San Cristobal.  On most ships, you don't even have cell signal until the last day.  It is much easier to have someone handling this before you are even aware of it. 

Galapagos Flights Booking Recommendation:

Airlines usually show no availability when there actually is space.  We have never been unable to get a flight.  What happens is that all cruises, both dive and naturalist, reserve seats for the total number of guests they have each week and then don't release the seats they aren't using until the last minute.  So it is definitely easier for you to simply allow us to book your flights and coordinate with the boat you're on.

By doing it this way:  1)Your liveaboard knows exactly where you are so no one will be in the dark, thus minimizing any confusion.  2) If something changes that necessitates a change in your flights, we're on top of it even while you're away and out of signal range.  3) In short, it makes everything much simpler.  

If your are working with a foreign travel agency for your international flights, it is definitely much better to allow us to book your Galapagos flights.  If anything goes wrong, they would have no way of resolving an issue on the ground in Galapagos.  If changes do need to occur, the individual liveaboard will notify us and together, we are very motivated to resolve the problem, whereas, other agencies might not even have the ability or local contacts to make a difference.  If you have booked directly somehow, you will have zero assistance should the need arise.  

Some examples that come to mind:

1) Clients were booked directly through to Galapagos with a local representative in their own country.  Departure was from Quito to San Cristobal.  They learned in Guayaquil that, though they themselves were enroute to San Cristobal, their bags were mistakenly sent to Baltra.  Their bags included their dive equipment. There was only one way to resolve this with the full integrity of their dive cruise intact and that was to get the airline to put their bags on the afternoon puddle jumper flight from Baltra to San Cristobal.  Now, it's simple to get them to agree as it is the custom to please in Ecuador.  But saying they'll do it and actually doing it are 2 different things.  Though we did not book the flights (and I happened to be on the highway in the United States on a road trip with my son), I was able to speak with the airlines, get the rep's name and then have local contacts get in touch with the airlines' local management to follow up as well as send someone to Baltra to make sure they followed up.  Their bags were transferred even though we didn't book the flights.  Our office may not always have the time to go to such lengths especially when another agency is responsible for the flights.

2) A liveaboard had a motor problem and the only place to repair in one day between departures was at Baltra's dock.  All aboard (out of signal range, so unaware of the problem) and any due to arrive that Monday for departure suddenly had to have their flights changed from San Cristobal to Baltra.  If you were a diver onboard, you wouldn't know therefore couldn't even contact the agent who issued your flights until you the afternoon before your flight and only then, if you have a Blackberry (as there is no 3G for IPhones to work in Galapagos) or spent your time at an internet cafe instead of the Darwin Station visit.   If you had an international connection the same day you were scheduled to fly out of San Cristobal, your problem just escalated.  If you were coming in to Galapagos and we had to track down the agent who booked your flights so they can change those flights, well...point blank, that can be impossible on a Sunday.

So simplify and simply book your Galapagos flights with us to avoid any problems that could arise.