Most international flights go to Quito and Guayaquil. More often than not, you should purchase flights to smaller Ecuadorian cities from some of the smaller airlines' web sites, since most often they do not make their flights available to global booking systems that you find on popular web sites.
There are many airports in Ecuador. However, not all Ecuador airports have regularly scheduled flights. In fact, some small airports have no regularly scheduled passenger services.
Some regional airports in Ecuador are only served by small "local" airlines which do not make their fares available to major travel web sites. For flights out of that sort of city, you would need to research which airlines serve the city and locate their web site or phone number by any means you have at your disposal.
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador (Spanish: Republica del Ecuador) is a representative democratic republic in South America, bounded by Colombia on the north, by Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean on the west. The country also includes the Galapagos Islands (Archipielago de Colon) in the Pacific, about 965 kilometers (600 miles) west of the mainland. Ecuador is the Spanish word for equator. Ecuador straddles the equator. Its capital city is Quito.
Ecuador has four main geographic regions: La Costa, or the coast, comprises the low-lying littoral in the western part of the country, including the Pacific coastline. La Sierra ("the saw") is the high-altitude belt running north to south along the centre of the country, its mountainous terrain dominated by the Andes mountain range. El Oriente ("the east") comprises the Amazon rainforest areas in the eastern part of the country, accounting for just under half of the country's total surface area, though populated by under 5% of the population. Finally, the Region Insular is the region comprising the Galapagos Islands, some 1,000 kilometers (620 mi) west of the mainland in the Pacific Ocean.
Ecuador has substantial petroleum resources and rich agricultural areas. Because the country exports primary products such as oil, bananas, and shrimp, fluctuations in world market prices can have a substantial domestic impact. Industry is largely oriented to servicing the domestic market.
The largest ethnic group is comprised of Mestizos, the mixed descendants of Spanish colonists and indigenous Amerindians, who constitute just over 65% of the population. Amerindians are second in numbers and account for approximately a quarter of the current population, around 25%. Whites are mainly criollos, the relatively unmixed descendants of early Spanish colonists, and account for some 15%. The small Afro-Ecuadorian minority — including Mulattos and zambos, and largely based in Esmeraldas and Ibarra — and immigrants from around the world constitute the remainder. Many foreign nationals have set up residence in Ecuador. There are sizeable expatriate Ecuadorian communities in Spain, Italy and the U.S.
Approximately 96.8% of Ecuadorians are Roman Catholic. Much of the population is practicing and attends Mass regularly. In the rural parts of Ecuador, indigenous beliefs and Christianity are sometimes syncretized. ()
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